A Glitch in Reality
by AkaneRules
Summary: The Major is physically and mentally in trouble. Something's wrong and for once, she wants help. Will Batou be able to save her or will she lose herself? Find out in this series of mysterious events. (It is a mix between 1995 film and SAC series) [Rated M for violence, language, alcohol use, and sexual references (Warning: this fic does contain occasional creepy sequences)]
1. Chapter 1

Major Kusanagi was called into the office for a private meeting with her boss Chief Aramaki. The "old ape", as his fellow employers like to nickname him behind his back, looked very concerned about the events that have taken place recently. False memories, infamous hackers, powerful AIs, it all clumped together as one massive obstacle for Section 9 and its future.

"I want you to be prepared for anything Major." Aramaki spoke in his raspy practically senior citizen voice, "I have a feeling that things are just going to roll even further downhill from here…but I trust that all is well with you."

"Yes." The calm Major replied. She was like the rubber band of the public security team; she always seemed to keep everyone together no matter how many issues tried to pull them apart.

"Good." He sighed as he leaned back in his black office chair. He motioned himself to a stand before turning his back to her so he could look out the large window. The view he looked out upon was of the vast cyber city. For most, it would be a most spectacular sight yet to him, it was rather mundane.

"Was that all you wanted to tell me?" The Major asked with a subtle lift of a brow.

"No…" Aramaki barely turned his head to respond to her question, "I also wanted to tell you…not to let it get to your head."

His words were unusual and for once the Major could not process them, "'It'? What do you…?"

"You can tell them to leave; I have no more meetings for the day." He finally turned his full body around toward her and seemed to completely disregard her curiosity.

Major had both brows furrowed a bit as she ended their conversation with a single nod. She exited the room and there stood the boys: Ishikawa, Togusa, Saito, Borma, Pazu, and her dearest friend Batou. They watched the queen enter the regal hallway of their facility as they pressed their backs against either sides of the wall.

"Did he want us to speak with him?" Ishikawa asked as he mindlessly stroked his bushy beard.

"No." She looked over at him before looking at the others, "You are all free to go."

"Thank god," Saito sighed in relief, "I need to get some sleep…"

"If I leave in time I can make it home for dinner." Togusa said in content as all the men dispersed to walk toward the elevators.

Batou was walking near the back of the group before stopping to look over at Kusanagi whom had not moved from in front of the office door. She was looking at the ground and was almost frozen like a statue. A look of concern spread across his face as his brows lifted and the corners of his lips lowered, "Everything all right?"

The sound of his voice made her head lift and she looked up at him with unblinking eyes, "I'm fine."

"You sure as hell don't seem like it…" Batou's face now looked a bit stern.

Instead of replying, she looked forward and walked past him, their arms barely brushing against each other. _What's her problem?_ He thought to himself as he followed her. The other guys had already taken the elevators as he and Kusanagi were speaking so now they had to share an elevator for themselves.

Kusanagi had a tendency to lean against the right wall of the elevator facing the automatic doors as Batou leaned against the back wall next to her.

They stood in a sort of awkward silence but eventually the man asked, "So…what'd the Ape call you in for?"

"A brief chat." She crossed her arms and looked at her feet.

"Really?" He almost scoffed in surprise, "He's not one for small chats…he's more into endless seminars."

Kusanagi almost smirked at his words, finding them both true and amusing, "He sure is…but today was different…"

"How so?"

"That's classified information."

"You're pulling that one on me again?" He sighed since he was frustrated that he was so close to getting a proper answer out of her. He then said, "Look…it's obvious that you're bothered by something and if you don't tell me what's wrong then I can't help you."

"I didn't ask for your help." She retorted and looked him directly in his circular lenses. They stared each other down as a way for asserting each other's dominance yet to his surprise, her eyes wandered back to the floor.

The elevator doors opened and Batou began to walk out first saying, "Well sorry that I was concerned about my fellow companion…"

'Companion'? Kusanagi lingered on the noun in thought. He had never used such a term before and she was not sure of how she felt about it. A hint of guilt crept up on her as she watched him walk toward the front doors. She finally began to realize that perhaps she was a bit too cold toward him since he simply wanted to help her.

Even though they had a brief spat, Batou still held the front door open for her. He was the kind of man who would get a temper and trudge away but when it came to her, he still showed her respect and kindness but with a slight scowl. Kusanagi exited the building and walked down the steps with him now following a few steps behind her once more. She almost forgot that she had one of her girlfriends drive her to work in the morning so she did not have a personal vehicle to leave in.

"Need a ride?" Batou offered her, noticing that her car wasn't around.

Kusanagi looked ahead at the passing cars and said, "I think I'll walk home."

"You sure? It's quite the hike."

"Yeah, I'm sure." She replied calmly. The wind outside began to pick up and her raven black hair began to shift. It was easy to tell that autumn was drawing near as the air was growing cooler, especially in a late afternoon like this.

Batou wanted to tell her many things along the lines of "It's getting cold…You don't want your body to short circuit" or even "crime is getting bad in this area…I don't want you getting in the middle of it" but all of this was trampled by the fact that it is the Major he is dealing with. Not some helpless girl who can't find her way home or even an elderly woman who can barely cross the street but a woman who can kick ass and watch her enemies (and even coworkers) grovel before her feet.

At the same time, he worried for her greatly. She was not some indestructible superhero; she was a person with feelings and fragility. He knew he could not argue with her any further so he ended their conversation with a shrug saying, "Suit yourself" before turning to head toward his car.

Kusanagi watched him as he walked away in his big beige coat. He stood out from all of the pedestrians and it had nothing to do from how large he was compared to them. His uniqueness and loyalty was what stood out to her. He was her best friend, her 'companion', and the only person who would actually care to listen to her problems. Everyone else she knew would brush her problems off their shoulder, with the mindset of "she's the Major…nothing can bring her down…she can't get hurt…she can't _feel_ hurt or maybe any kind of emotions." She too had fallen for this mindset and thus she masks her feelings with sternness and almost placidness. She would also take on any challenge that could potentially risk her life simply for the sake of knowing that there is the slightest chance that she could succeed out of the greatest possibility of failing. Is this truly the way she wanted to live?

Pushing her thoughts aside she looked back at the road. To her surprise, there were no cars passing by, no traffic. She looked to her sides and noticed that all of the pedestrians had suddenly vanished, including Batou. The city was completely empty and eerie with the only sources of light now being the flickering street lamps and traffic lights. Something was definitely wrong and she had no idea what it could be. She needed to cross the street to see if there was anyone else around so she walked over to the traffic light just before the crosswalk. The green crosswalk signal was chirping and she had only noticed the sound until now.

Just as she was crossing the street, the signal abruptly turned red. Since it did not seem that any cars were around, it did not concern her until she heard the loud horn of an oncoming eighteen wheeler honking. Within seconds, she could finally see all the cars and all the pedestrians just before she felt the impact of metal colliding with the left side of her body. Before she could even blink, her body was being mowed down by what seemed to be an endless vehicle as she rolled just between the wheels. The sounds were almost deafening that at some point she could only hear a high pitched ring. She lay in the middle of the road facedown and cars that were behind the truck had stopped mere inches away from the battered woman. As she regained some normal hearing, she could hear the sounds of women screaming and cellphone camera shutters clicking. But out of all the noises, one stood out from them all.

"Motoko!" She heard Batou cry. His loud, familiar footsteps quickly caught up to her and suddenly, she felt her body being rolled over onto her back. Her grey-blue eyes were dazed from what just happened and her vision was a bit distorted. Batou gently lifted her upper body into his arms and he looked down at her. To Kusanagi, he appeared to be glitching as parts of him became green or pixelated.

She wanted to lift her head to look around but she could not bring any part of her body to move. There was no blood but there were a few broken parts to her that she could not quite point out at the moment.

"I'm going to get ỵ̘̤͈̭̯͎̲ͪ̎̒ͩͤ͊ͦͪ͐̀͘ǫ̙̬͛u̡̲ͭ̎͛̄̏ ̝̹̻̻̮̹͆̈̒o̢̮̞̺̐ͮ͘͞ũ̹͓̣̠̅͊̍̓ͤ́̒ṯ͚̲͒͗̋͐̽̌̏͗ ̨̜̟̗͕̔͊͂̾ͯ͐̚o̎̎̓́̔́҉̺͇̗̙̤͎̥f̡̤̣̩̲͗͒ͪ̌ͦͥͯ̿ ̂͑͏͈͙̱̪ͅͅh̵̠̬͌̽̂̀͢ȇ̫̇̕͜r͉ͥ̀̅̏͡e͈͓̠͍ͭ̓̿ͧ͛ͧͭ͢…" Batou said but his voice now sounding glitched as well to her. He picked her up in his arms and began to carry her to his car.

Kusanagi was sat in the passenger seat but before she could even say his name, her body shutdown into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Major woke up the next morning, finding herself in the center of a brown king-sized bed in a dimly lit room. It was very simple in decoration and it had a very cozy atmosphere. She knew exactly where she was even though she had ever been in this place before. She was at Batou's hideout. His bed certainly smelled like him but it was not a bad scent. It was rather comforting, knowing that she was someplace safe and not alone in a hospital bed. Kusanagi tried to lift her appendages yet was only able to successfully move her arms though they moved slowly and almost weakly.

Soon, Batou entered the room and seemed satisfied to see her awake. He pulled up a chair next to her bedside so he was at eye-level with her.

"Good to see that you're alive." He grinned, "Sleep well?"

"I suppose…" She replied a bit groggily, "What all happened?"

"Well, after you were run over, I immediately took you to the local technician. Luckily you weren't too damaged so all he really had to do was reboot your motor system and fix only a few bolts and wires here and there and repair some skin material. He also did an internal system check and saw signs of a virus. It's minor but it's not every day that you end up getting hit by an 80 thousand pound semi-truck…" Batou spoke a bit seriously, "So after that, I drove you back here and have been waiting for you to wake up for the past 3 hours."

"Why not leave me with the technician?" She asked as she seemed a bit stuck on the concept of her getting a virus in the first place.

"He needed you in an isolated place to keep the virus from spreading to any of his equipment so I decided to bring you here. This place is ironically not very techy." Batou shrugged.

"What about work?"

"I already called Aramaki," Batou seemed more or less surprised that Kusanagi was asking about work after just waking up from a minor coma, "I told him that you were undergoing some repairs and needed a few days off."

"And my clothes?" She raised a brow, finally noticing that she was under the covers with simply her bra and underwear.

"At the laundry-mat just across the street."

"When may I leave?"

"Geez, already talking about leaving when you just got here?" He sighed, "Once you're better of course. You still need to regain your motor skills and then get rid of that virus."

Kusanagi was finally out of questions. She hated feeling so needy and vulnerable like a child sick in bed with a cold. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to remember whatever memories that came to mind. She could only recall the moments leading up to the accident and that was it.

"Do you remember what you did the night before yesterday?" Batou asked, as if he could tell what she was thinking. He needed to find clues as to how she got the virus.

Her eyes opened back up and she slowly shook her head, "Not at all…the memories will come back to me with time I assume."

He nodded and finally stood back up. He reached down to the other side of his nightstand and lifted a six-pack of beer before placing it on top of the furniture. "For you, while I'm away." He informed.

"'Away'?"

"As much as I'd like to stay here play nurse, I have to go back to work," Batou replied as he grabbed a remote to the plasma TV facing the bed and placed it next to her, "Aramaki wasn't as merciful to me as he was to you."

"So I'm going to lie here and watch television all day until you get back?" Kusanagi did not look very pleased by her limited options.

" _Annnnd_ drink beer." Batou gave a big goofy grin before turning to head toward the door. Right as he was about to leave, he looked over at Kusanagi with a now softer look on his face, "But in all seriousness…just relax for the day. I'll be in touch."

Kusanagi gave in and nodded, "Alright."

Batou was just about to close the door behind him until it suddenly opened again so he could say, "And dammit whatever you do, don't try to get up and walk. You're guaranteed to fall." He finally closed the door and left the apartment.

Kusanagi couldn't help but chuckle. The whole ordeal was ridiculous to her. She appreciated all that he was doing for her but she felt like a burden to him. She was so use to being left in hospital bed after hospital bed that having someone offering their own bed for such a situation was foreign to her. She noticed that her cellphone was on the nightstand so she slowly reached her arm toward it before successfully grabbing it. She turned it on and was surprised to see 10 attempted calls from one of her girlfriends and plenty of spam e-mail.

"What's this all about?..." Kusanagi thought aloud before finally calling her girlfriend, Sayaka, back.

"Kusa! You _finally_ picked up!" The always enthusiastic girl answered, "I've been trying to call you all morning until your boyfriend answered. He told me you weren't feeling too well so I got worried."

"'Boyfriend'?" Kusanagi raised her brows in utter surprise.

"Yeah! He has a really deep voice and is really sarcastic! I didn't think you were into those kinds of guys…"

"He's not- _We're_ not-.." Kusanagi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. He crossed so many lines in one day that it was beginning to give her a headache, "Look, just…tell me why you originally called me. Before _…_ HE picked up."

"Oh, well I was just calling you about the night before yesterday, wondering if you and Mia had a lot of fun. Sorry I couldn't make it...I had to take the nightshift that night," Sayaka replied.

'That's right…I was with Mia that evening…She drove me to work the next morning but dammit, I can't remember what all we did.' Kusanagi thought to herself. "Have you called her?"

"No. I was going to ask if she called you."

"Not that I see."

"Okay, well I'll let you go now," Sayaka concluded, "Get some rest and maybe we can have lunch in a few days!"

"That'd be nice," Kusanagi replied, "See you."

They both hung up and Kusanagi was alone once more. As much as she wanted to kill Batou for tampering with her personal items and stripping her down while she was unconscious, she could not thank him enough for his hospitality and patience. She turned the television on with the remote he gave her and flipped through the channels. She never really watched television besides the news and was curious as to what was on. Most of the channels were simply filled with commercials about the newest gadgets and prosthetics as others were for fashion. The models on one of the fashion channels were full prosthetic cyborgs whose bodies were from the Megatech Body Co., the same place where she was created. She watched as the models cat-walked down the runway in their stylish designer outfits while the upper-class audience members spectated from below. Kusanagi had always been one for the cyber fashion so she could not help but watch at least a few minutes of the program.

About ten minutes in, she noticed that one of the models had her same face and body shape yet her hair was long and blonde. Usually such similarities did not strike her as surprising since they were the same line of prosthetics but for some reason, this person seemed a bit eerie to her as she looking directly into the camera. The model stopped walking and was smiling straight ahead without moving even though the electronic music was still playing. No one in the audience found it odd as their faces were looking up at her with big smiles. The scene was just too weird so Kusanagi clicked the remote to change the channel.

The next channel was of the same scene. The model was staring into the camera and everyone was still smiling at her. Kusanagi furrowed her brows and tried to change the channel again, then again, then again, and then again. Each click only altered the scene as the audience members' heads would gradually turn at each click until they were finally staring into the camera as well.

"What the hell…." Kusanagi cursed and gave one last click. The audience members now hared the same face as her and were now standing from their seats. Their bodies were pointed toward the model but their heads were still turned towards the camera.

The model's head tilted down a bit but her eyes were locked onto the lens as she said in a glitchy voice, "ẙ̛̝̤̣͓͎̉̅̀́̚O̢̝ͧU͐̏̾̐́͝͏̭̼͔͕͔̫͉̲̠ ̡̱̮͚͓̹ͨ͗́̄̕͢ȃ̡̲̘͇̱̀R̭̟̃̆̍ͬ̇͒̀eͦ̓͐̉̍́҉̳͎͓ ̡̱̞̗ͧ̓̀I̜̱ͩ͒̈́n͚͕͈͓͖͈̈̑ͨ̎̀͡͝f̫̭̮͎̰̞̄̐̒ë́̽̓̎͌͏̢̹̞͕̹C̴̨͕̮̝͇̙͔̓̃̐̄͐ͨŢ̧̱͔̫̫͌̇ͪ̒ͮ͝ͅę̣̯͙͓̗̣͔͋͜͠Ḏ̤͓̍̑̂͌ͩ̆ͫ͜."

Kusanagi's eyes widened before feeling a shot of pain zap through her head. She winced and pressed the OFF button, causing the TV to static for a few moments until finally shutting down.

Batou had been monitoring her brainwaves from Section 9 so he immediately contacted her through their internal cyber brain communications when he took notice of the irregularities, _[Major, is everything okay? Your heart rate is high and your brainwaves are all over the place! I'm heading back over there.]_

 _[I'm fine…I'm fine…I'm fine…]_ She repeated in an shaken and almost frightened voice as she was gripping the sides of her head.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Batou left the Major back at his apartment, he immediately headed to HQ. He already had a plan for what to do in attempts to find out what's wrong with Kusanagi. His coworkers looked genuinely shocked to see that their leader in command was absent and wondered what in the world had happened to her.

"Is she all right?" Togusa asked Batou with visible concern on his face, "I heard she was hit by a semi-truck…"

"I'm sure she is." Ishikawa butted in, "She's the Major. She's been through a lot worse."

"Don't overestimate her, Ishikawa…" Batou said in Kusanagi's defense which caused Ishikawa to back off, "Has Aramaki heard about it?"

"I think all he knows is that she's going through some repairs." Saito informed.

"Good. I don't want him going ape-shit on her about it…" Batou sighed in relief.

"You've certainly taken responsibility over her." Togusa pointed out.

"It's the least I can do." He responded, "And as second-in-command, I have a job for you and Ishikawa."

The two men were curious and they obediently stepped out of the room with Batou. Togusa was handed a picture of a license plate. The regional code was from Hokkaido, its hiragana prefix was ふ (Fu), its vehicle class was 230, and the license numbers on it were 95-14.

"Find out whose truck this is…They didn't bother to stop after the incident." Batou instructed.

"Got it." Togusa nodded before logging onto his laptop computer.

"Ishikawa, I want you to access the security cameras on those traffic lights. They're the ones just outside the front doors of this building."

"You can count on me." Ishikawa replied a bit cockily as he went over to his specialized computer.

The two men began their research and the sounds of their fingers tapping quickly against their keyboards could be heard. Batou was more or less patiently waiting for the results while he kept an eye on Kusanagi's monitors. He hadn't told her that he setup a device on one of her neck ports so he could keep track of her brainwaves and heartrate. He knew that once she would find out about it, she would definitely tear it off. Thankfully, the device was not very large so it would take her a while to figure out that there's something on the back of her neck (unless she happens to scratch it).

"I found something." Togusa announced causing Batou to go over to him immediately. The young man pulled up the information on the net for his partner to see, "This truck is an import from the United States. The manufacturing company specializes in self-driving cars, especially large delivery trucks like this meaning."

"So no one was actually in it?" Batou looked serious.

"Exactly." Togusa nodded, "Their hardware is rather impressive. It uses a combination of motion detection, GPS, infrared scanners, cameras, and each vehicle is programmed to get to point A to point B and back."

"Where was this one headed?"

"Toward the wheat fields in Fukui." Togusa answered, "It was delivering Kubota machines for the harvest."

"If these vehicles are so smart, why didn't it stop after colliding with the Major?" Batou almost growled.

Togusa clicked on the FaQ page and scrolled down to see the information on the "safety tab". "Hm," Togusa read quietly to himself before informing Batou, "In accidents like these, they are required by law to stop and call in an ambulance. Perhaps it was a rogue truck? Or maybe it didn't even register that it hit someone."

"I remember clearly hearing the horn sounding before I heard impact so there's no doubt that it saw her…but why at the last minute and then not after?" Batou sighed and rubbed his forehead in stress.

"Hey Batou! Check this out…this is pretty creepy." Ishikawa called the large cyborg over to him. Togusa was rather curious to see what was caught on the security cameras so he joined the two at Ishikawa's cubicle.

The bearded computer geek had three computer monitors set up in front of him. The first monitor was connected to security camera 1 which was located on the other side of the street, facing the headquarters. The second monitor linked up to camera 2 and it viewed the crosswalk from the left side, pointing away from section 9's building as camera 3 faced the other side of the crosswalk, viewing where the truck would have arrived from.

"Okay, now I'm going to play the footage slowly because it is a lot to take in." Ishikawa told them and the tone of his voice sounded almost wary, "All the cameras will be playing in the same time frame simultaneously. Major will appear on camera 1 first." He then began playing the footage.

Security cameras never had the most high-quality graphics of any camera ever but it was good for watching key frames at a gradual pace. Camera 1 showed Kusanagi in the distance watching Batou walk away.

"Some lovers' quarrel you two must've had…" Ishikawa couldn't help but tease the big guy.

As Kusanagi was turning her head in the video, she vanished completely.

"Where the hell…" Batou leaned in closer toward the computer monitor, "She's not even wearing her thermoptic camouflage…"

"Exactly and look," Ishikawa pointed to camera 2 and 3 with two fingers, "She must have been walking toward the crosswalk at this point because in just less than a minute, she appears in the middle of the right lane."

Kusanagi reappeared in cameras 2 and 3. Camera 2's angle showed the left side of her body as camera 3 showed her right. The truck was clearly seen in camera 3 and it was less than 10 feet away when it began honking its horn. Finally, the impact was shown and Batou could not help but turn his head. He could not bear the sight of seeing Kusanagi get damaged even if she could not feel the physical pain. It was the mere fact that he could have prevented this if he would have simply convinced her to ride with him in his car back to her residence.

"That's…one of the craziest things I've ever seen." Togusa said in disbelief, "If the security cameras could not pick her up in those few moments, then the truck's cameras could not have either…but not even the infrared scanners?"

The camera footage was still playing as they spoke. It now showed the motionless Kusanagi lying face down on the pavement. Batou entered the cameras' view once again and could be seen turning her over and speaking to her. Batou noticed in the distance of monitor 3 that the truck _did_ in fact stop about 20 feet away from the scene but once Batou had gotten Kusanagi into his car, the truck left.

"She passed out once she was in the car." Batou recalled, "Maybe it didn't even recognize her as a person at that point so it drove off…"

Suddenly, Batou had an alert appearing in his prosthetic vision. It was Kusanagi's heartrate and brainwave monitors. The data was going all over the place so something must have gone wrong back at his apartment. He contacted her through their cyber brains, _[Major, is everything okay? Your heart rate is high and your brainwaves are all over the place! I'm heading back over there.]_

 _[I'm fine…I'm fine…I'm fine…]_ She replied, sounding shaken and a bit frightened.

"I have to go…She's in trouble." Batou concluded and headed for the door.

"What about Aramaki?" Togusa called to him, not wanting him to get in trouble with the big boss.

"Don't worry, I'll cover for him. Let him go." Ishikawa reassured the young officer.

Batou hopped into his car and drove as quickly and legally as possible. He did not know what he was going to witness but it could not be worse than what he saw on Ishikawa's computer monitors. His mind was practically spinning by all the possibilities. He soon parked his car and made his way inside to the elevator. His apartment was located on the 12th floor of the complex.

He quickly entered the apartment before entering his room. He looked around and noticed that she no longer on his bed. He scanned the room and noticed that the blankets were draping toward one side of the bed so he went over to check the floor. There she was, sitting up on the floor with one hand supporting her upper body and the other resting against the temple of her head.

"You didn't have to come…I told you I was fine…" Kusanagi had her back to him while she rubbed the side of her head.

"If I didn't come…you would not be able to get back up onto the bed." He rebuked before gently scooping her up and fixing the blankets so they were equal on both sides of the bed. Once she was settled in, he asked, "What happened?"

"I'm going crazy, that's what happened." She gave a heavy sigh.

"Crazy how?"

Kusanagi was hesitant to respond.

"Mo…Major, I saw some pretty crazy things today myself…" He reassured her and sat on the edge of the bed, "You can tell me."

She nodded, trusting his word, and looked down at her lap before replying, "I was watching TV and…it…interacted with me…the people on the screen looked at me…I tried changing the channel but it would stay on the same station and…it said I was 'infected'…"

"So the TV…spoke to you?"

"You don't believe me…"

"Of course I do," Batou replied in a gentler voice, "You're not the type to just make this stuff up…"

Kusanagi gave a calm sigh and almost smiled from his words. She cleared her throat and informed, "I found out who I was with the day I may have gotten the virus."

"Really? Who?"

"Mia, one of my girlfriends, but I can't seem to remember where we went that day..."

"Where's her workplace? I'll find her there."

Kusanagi took a deep breath and replied a bit quietly, "I'll give you the coordinates…but you have to wait until it opens, it's way too early."

Batou nodded and listened carefully as the Major gave him the address. He inputted it into his internal GPS and confirmed the location. The area was a bit away from everything and it almost seemed sketchy.

He did not let it bother him so he stood, "Whelp, in the meantime…I'll stay here and keep an eye on you."

"What about Aramaki?"

"Ishikawa's got me covered."

"One can hope…" Kusanagi chuckled.

Though she did not admit it, she was glad that Batou could stay with her. She wanted his sarcastic, goofy company and a part of her wanted to be protected by him from whatever was infecting her. She had her complete trust in him…except when it came to her cellphone.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A few hours passed and Batou was getting ready to leave. He had made food for Kusanagi and they ate together on the bed. She did not necessarily need to eat food but she thought his gesture was so kind that she could not help but accept. She refused to have the TV turned on while they ate, not wanting to have another "paranormal" episode. She soon set aside now empty plate and looked content.

"Did you enjoy your five-star microwavable meal?" Batou chucked as he picked up their dirty dishes to take into the kitchen.

"The best meal I ever had." Kusanagi responded jokingly and looked down when she let out a light giggle. Batou entered the kitchen and could be heard washing the dishes. When he entered the room, Kusanagi looked down at her phone's digital clock and it read 19:00.

"You best get going...her shift is starting." She suggested with her expression now serious as she took on her authoritative persona.

"Anything I need to know before I head over there?" He asked.

"Mia Hokama is 24 years old and is about 163 centimeters (5' 3") in height but assuming that she's wearing her platforms tonight, she may look around 170 (5' 6")," Kusanagi described to him, "She also has long auburn-colored hair and green eyes."

"Damn. You pay close attention to detail." Batou was rather impressed and already had a vision of what the woman may look like.

"She's also a size E (D in U.S) in breast size."

"Wow. Thank you, I will be looking out for a large pair of breasts." He spoke sarcastically.

"Just giving you a vivid description," Kusanagi shrugged.

"How long have you two known each other?"

She was a bit caught off guard by the question and replied, "Is that necessary for you to know?"

"I'm launching a personal investigation here…I need suspects and since you were with her the day before the accident, she may be considered one."

"Fair enough." She gave in, "We have been seeing each other for a little over a month."

Batou nodded and replied, "That's all I need to know for now." He turned and grabbed his coat that he placed at the foot of the bed. He had only met a few of Kusanagi's girlfriends in the past but nowadays she kept quiet about them. He knew that each girl was usually just a temporary fling but sometimes he could not help but feel a little jealous.

"While you're out, could you stop by my place?" She remembered, "Just grab some of the clothes from my drawers. I really don't care which you pick."

"No problem." He nodded. He then tapped the side of his head with a finger and said, "We'll be in touch," Referring to their cyber brain communications. He soon left the room and finally the apartment complex.

Batou drove in his car for about 40 minutes, exiting the main city. Through his prosthetic eyes, he could see holographic arrows leading him to the destination as he was using his brain's GPS system. He had no trouble finding Mia's workplace and when he got there, he was amazed to see a long line of people standing outside of the large, crummy looking building. The line mainly consisted of men but there were a few women scattered here and there. The beginning of the line started at a set of doors that were being guarded by two large bouncers.

 _[Looks like I left my clubbing outfit at home…]_ He communicated with Kusanagi, feeling rather unimpressed by what he saw.

 _[This isn't just a club…Just go to one of the bouncers and tells them that you need to see Mia.]_ She responded.

Batou exited his car and headed for the doors. The bouncers looked at him and crossed their arms in attempt to intimidate him. The people in the line began to complain and give Batou stink eyes for cutting in front of all of them.

"What do you need, Sir?" One of the bouncers asked. They both were wearing black V-necks, leather pants, and altered sunglasses despite it being nighttime.

"I'm here to see Mia Hokama." Batou replied, getting to the point.

The other bouncer chuckled saying, "I'm sure every other man here does as well…what makes you so special?"

Batou thought of an excuse, not wanting them or anyone else to know his affiliations especially since he was at a sketchy place like this. He looked down at the first bouncer and finally answered, "I'm her lawyer."

 _[That's what you come up with?]_ Kusanagi was listening in on everything and was quite dumbfounded by his response.

The bouncers took the bait as they both looked utterly shocked. They moved out of his way and opened the doors saying, "Please, go on right ahead."

 _[It worked, didn't it?]_ He grinned in which he received no feedback from the Major as she probably didn't want to encourage him.

As he ventured deeper inside the building, he could feel and hear the bass of loud electronic dance music playing in one of the rooms. He followed the sound and was eventually led into a room with a large catwalk and curtains. Tables and chairs were assorted around the stage and men were anticipating a show as they drank glasses of champagne. The room had a pink and red hue to it due to the lighting and decorations. Batou was led to a seat by one of the waiters but refused the offer for a drink. He sat towards the right of the catwalk and could not believe what he was getting himself into.

"Gentlemen, come! Gather round as the show is about to start!" A very enthusiastic sounding man was heard and the source of his voice came from the DJ booth microphone. The DJ was a young man wearing flashy clothing and sunglasses. The men in the audience proceeded to howl and holler in excitement as the DJ continued, "Who's ready to see 'WILD ROSE'? Well here she is!" He pressed a few buttons and slow jazz music began to play. The curtains slowly rose, revealing a tuxedoed woman sitting on a chair on the middle of the stage. She wore a sparkling black fedora hat and had her hair tucked up inside it so it was hard to tell what color it was due to the spotlight being shined upon her.

"Wild Rose" began to lip-sync to the female Turkish singer in the jazz song as she slowly stood from her seat. She slow danced about the chair for a few minutes and was gradually removing different articles of clothing. The song suddenly took a dramatic turn as well as the lighting in the room. The music was electronic and she danced beneath the strobe lights. She flung her hat into the audience, revealing her long and bouncy auburn hair. Men fought for her hat and even began to throw money onto the stage.

In the center of the catwalk, a pole began to rise from an opening in the ground before touching and securing to the ceiling. The performer now was left in a sparking red thong, bra, and clear platform heels. She grabbed onto the pole and spun about it, striking risqué poses to impress the men. Batou, however, was not fooled by the muse's dance. He was not attracted to her or her performance nor was he turned off by it; he simply felt indifferent.

It was as if this Wild Rose took notice of his lacking reaction that she hopped off stage and onto his table. She squatted down in a very racy position in front of him and he couldn't help but raise his brows at the abrupt action. She caressed her E-cup breasts with her hands and they soon slowly moved down her body and onto her thighs. She gave him a seductive look through her emerald eyes while biting her bottom lip. He never really received a look like that from a woman before but he was not fazed by it.

"Hokama, Mia…that's your name, isn't it?" Batou finally said while she danced.

Mia was stunned to hear her name being said, particularly from a man he never met before. She danced her way off the table before walking to his side. She bent over and smiled for the other men before whispering in Batou's ear, "Meet me backstage…" She flipped his ponytail before moving on to another table.

The performance ended with her dancing and grinding against the pole topless, causing almost all the men in the room to practically flood the stage. Batou took this as an opportunity to head for the backstage door. He found himself surrounded by scantily clad women yet thankfully they did not take much notice to him. They were too busy putting on their makeup and outfits for the next show.

"Hey!" Batou heard a woman say to him as she patted his arm. He looked over at her and she cocked her head curiously. It was Mia and she was wearing a blue robe which was very contrasting with what she was wearing (and not wearing) previously, "You said my name out there. Who are you?"

"I'm Batou, a friend of Kusanagi." Batou replied collectedly.

"Oh, Batou! I remember her mentioning you a couple of times," Mia smiled warmly, as if they had met before.

 _[Aw, you talk about me.]_ He said to Kusanagi in a playfully, patronizing tone as if he were touched by the information.

 _[What can I say? You're the source of all my troubles.]_ The Major teased back.

"I came here to talk to you," Batou wanted to get to the point, "Kusanagi isn't feeling too well and she can't seem to remember what you both did two nights ago."

"Really?" Mia lightly frowned, "Aw…will she be okay?"

"She will, if you can tell me what you all did," He replied but reassured, "I don't believe you did anything to harm her so don't think that you're in trouble. She and I need your help."

Mia nodded and began to think, "Since I broke my phone, I emailed her that day, wondering if she was free. She had gotten off work around 17:00 so we agreed to meet up at the park. She asked me what I wanted to do and I suggested that we go to a Dream Bar. We first both shared a dream at one booth and then we each did individual ones. This went on for about an hour and a half until Motoko said that she was having a headache. I drove her back to my place and we had a couple of drinks. She told me she felt better and we…well…you know…" She lightly blushed.

Batou took in all the information. He was certain that what Kusanagi caught was from the Dream Bar since Mia mentioned a headache. His eyes furrowed a bit and he asked with concern, "Do you have any cybernetic work done to you?"

"No, I'm fully human." The woman replied as she stroked her own hair out of habit, "Why?"

"Good…I was afraid that you could have caught what she has after you two were…intimate."

"She doesn't have some sort of…sexually transmitted disease does she?"

 _[Excuse me…]_ Motoko was quite shocked by the assumption.

"What? No, no! She's all clean…at least, from what I know." He scratched the back of his neck.

 _[Watch it, Batou.]_ He could almost feel Motoko's words burn into his cyber brain.

"If you were a cyborg or even had a few cybernetic alterations, you could be prone to what's like a computer virus." He tried to explain in simple terms, "But don't worry about it...I'll get her better in no time."

"Okay." Mia sighed in relief. She looked and felt a bit guilty for probably being the reason why Kusanagi was so sick. The look on her face then softened and she pointed out, "Motoko told me that you are a trustworthy man. She constantly tells me how you have her back in almost every mission you both are in together. The way she talks about you, one can assume that you two are more than just partners in crime…"

"Mia! You're up for the group dance!" One of the choreographers called from the curtain.

"I'll be right there!" Mia called back. She gave a light bow to Batou and when she raised her head she told him, "After spending time with her for over a month, I learned that she's not very open about her feelings but when it comes to you…it's like she's a whole other person. Please, take good care of her." She waved and met up with a few fellow dancers.

Batou was silent and he stood almost motionless in the middle of all the commotion; he was left speechless after the revelation Mia had presented to him. _[Motoko…]_ He found himself saying through their communications before realizing that Kusanagi had cut herself off from the line. He checked her physical status and everything seemed normal yet her heartrate was a bit higher than usual so she had most likely cut communications after being assumed of having an STD.

He left the gentleman's club and made his way back into his car. He was soundless for the rest of the night and was now heading to Kusanagi's home to gather up some clothes for her. Along the drive, he could not help but smile to himself after what Mia had told him right before he left.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was the next morning and Kusanagi had slept in until 9:00. She was always an early bird but the virus seemed to be draining her of her energy. She slowly raised her upper body and popped her back. Her silvery-blue eyes wandered over at the foot of the bed since she noticed that some of her clothes were laid out for her. She was glad that Batou remembered the favor yet she had to practically crawl over to her clothes to reach them considering how large his bed was.

Due to his excellent timing, Batou accidentally walked in on Kusanagi while she was changing. He was going to greet her but instead he quickly whipped his head to the side and hid the blush on his face.

"So you can stare at my girlfriend's breasts while she dances around a pole but not at mine? Such double standards…" She almost scoffed and seemed pretty comfortable with undressing in front of others.

"I'm just being polite…" He replied quietly as he was looking away.

She lightly smiled and replied, "I know." She slipped on her black tank top and then slipped into a new pair of panties.

"You done?"

"Mhm." She was now sitting crisscrossed on the edge of the bed and was looking over at the window.

Batou turned and faced her saying, "Mia was very nice…no wonder you like her so much."

"'So much'?" She repeated without breaking her gaze from the window.

"Well…don't you?"

"Yeah," She shrugged, "She's charming, fun to spend time with and a great dancer of course…but we don't see each other so often. It's hard to be with someone you rarely see."

Batou nodded and took a seat next to her.

"Why the sudden interest?" She finally turned her head to look at him.

He shrugged, "She's a nice girl. I'm just looking out for the two of you and before I left, she seemed pretty guilty for taking you to the Dream Bar since I think that's where you caught the virus."

"She shouldn't feel guilty. It was inevitable."

"Maybe you should tell her that." He suggested.

"I will _if_ I get better."

"You _will_ get better…" Batou was a bit frustrated by the sudden negativity.

"'Because I'm the Major', I know…I hear that all the time…" She rested her elbow on her knee and supported her head with her hand as she sat hunched over.

"No, I wasn't going to say that…" He replied somewhat sternly, "You will get better because I'm in charge of you and I'll be damned if I lose you under my care."

"Out of all the members of Section 9, why does Batou care if the Major lives or dies?"

"Because I…" He almost wanted to yell his darkest confession that has been kept locked away deep inside his heart for years but he held his tongue. It was not the time and place for it. He struggled for a moment and stood before finally spitting out, "Because I know that you are not just some indestructible war machine…You're a person with feelings and who also happens to have a friend who just wants you to eat the breakfast he made you…" He turned and exited the room.

Kusanagi raised her brows was at a loss of words. Right when she wanted to perhaps check on him, he reentered the room with a plate of food. It was eggs and bacon, a very American breakfast that he presented her. He had his usual, frustrated look on his face but he still cared enough to hand her the plate and utensils.

Kusanagi chuckled to herself and then gave a light laugh, "You're the source of all my troubles…" It was the same phrase she said last night and it now seemed to be an inside-joke. Either way, Batou loved to hear her laugh even if it only lasted a second.

"I shouldn't be prying into your personal life…" Batou began to say until he was interrupted.

"Are you really apologizing?" She looked at him inquisitively, "I'm the one who started this."

"Hey, you weren't going to, so I might as well do it." He chuckled.

This was their relationship; the pointless spats, the constant teasing and cracking of jokes, the complaints about everyday life, the existential questions, the occasional drinks at the bar, their hangouts on the boat, the subtle but meaningful gestures, their constant surveillance of each other, and their mere existence together. The pursuit of further exploring their relationship was always present though never discussed. It was almost as forbidden and as hidden as a Catholic priest falling in love with a woman. It's very possible but there will be consequences.

About 20 minutes had passed and Batou was ready to leave once again. He buttoned up his coat as Kusanagi struggled to take a stand. She looked very unbalanced and when she thought she was stable, she ended up falling forward. Batou caught her with the help of his fast reflexes and he held her against him. It felt more like an embrace and it felt rather warm.

"You okay?" He asked her gently, their faces were close to each other.

"Yeah…" She seemed a bit flustered for once.

Surprisingly, the two of them stayed in that position for a full minute before Kusanagi finally pulled away. She was able to stand properly on her own now and gave a sigh of satisfaction.

"Do you want me to stay with you a little longer?" Batou suddenly offered.

She looked back at him as if the answer was easy but for some reason, it wasn't. She did, in fact, want him to spend some more time with her but naturally, she fought off that urge in order to maintain her authority, "I'll be fine. I don't want to hold you back."

"Frankly, you keep me going…" He admitted with a light chuckle yet it came out as more of a flirtation.

She smiled and looked down before saying, "Just get going…"

"As you wish," Batou nodded before finally taking his leave.

Kusanagi was alone again and she knew that it was going to be a long day without him.

The Major spent her first few hours stretching her legs and other parts of her body. She wanted to return to full operation as soon as possible. She honestly hated being alone and the sooner she was back up and moving, the sooner she could get back to work and see her girlfriends until it dawned on her…she still had the virus. She could not risk the chance of infecting others which also gave her the sudden realization that she was a possible danger to Batou. She shook away the negative thoughts and decided that a bath would be a good way to relieve stress.

She entered Batou's bathroom and looked around. It was small for a man his size and she wondered if he even bathed in his own apartment at all; Section 9's showers were much larger. She turned on the faucet and waited for the tub to fill. As she waited, she undressed herself and set aside her clothes, not caring to fold them at the moment.

Once the tub was filled, she stepped inside and almost crooned at the feeling of the warm water. The way it engulfed her body made her feel safe and relaxed. She laid back into the water until her body was almost completely submerged except for her face.

When she closed her eyes, it almost felt like she was scuba diving which was a favorite hobby of hers. She could already imagine Batou sitting a boat nearby, drinking his can of beer and just waiting to complain to her about how risky it is for a full-prosthetic cyborg to be in the ocean. She smiled at the image and just wished that she could go out on those waters again; she felt so free and alive despite all of the risks that Batou would list out for her. She could feel her body almost tingling in utter relaxation.

All of this was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door abruptly creaking. Her eyes shot open and she sat up. She looked over at the door silently as the water swished about beneath her. Her vision began to glitch like the day of the accident and she rubbed her eyes with a fist. When she looked back up, she noticed a tiny porcelain doll peeking its head out from the side of the door. It looked directly at her and had a small smile on its face; however, its beady eyes were completely black.

Kusanagi squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again in attempts to get rid of this hallucination. The doll seemed to have teleported by the time the Major had opened her eyes because it now appeared in front of the door, revealing its full body. Its hair was black and was up in a shimada hairstyle. It also wore a loose, red kimono and zori sandals. It was able to stand on its own and even began to walk toward the tub. The way it walked was quite eerie since it would twitch its body at each step as well as cock its head from side to side. The sandals tapped against the floor at a moderate pace but as the doll moved closer, the tapping grew faster.

Kusanagi knew that the virus was simply simulating a doll that wasn't really there so she lay back against the water before submerging her body underwater once more. This time, her face was underwater as well so any sounds in the room were muffled and replaced with the sounds of water rushing in and around her ears. She had her eyes closed and when she opened them to look up at the surface of the water; she saw a blurred vision of a geisha woman looking down at her from the side of the tub. What she saw startled her, and when she tried to sit back up, she was pinned down at the shoulders by the stranger.

Kusanagi kicked and grabbed the geisha's wrists since the woman was now trying to strangle her underwater. This was no hallucination; someone was actually there and is trying to kill her. Kusanagi could not see the person's face very clearly from all the commotion but what she could tell, was that they were smiling. She twisted her body in every way possible and couldn't seem to get free. Water began to enter her airways and she could already feel herself beginning to drown. She finally tucked her leg up near her upper body and kicked straight up into the air, hitting the woman directly in the face, causing her to let go. Kusanagi sat up and began to cough up the water she had swallowed which was not a comfortable feeling whatsoever. She peeked over the wall of the tub to look down at the bathroom floor, wanting to see who the perpetrator was.

To her astonishment, it no longer appeared to be some murderous geisha; it was Sayaka. Kusanagi's eyes widened and she immediately exited the tub. She went over to her girlfriend, who was lying on her back with her head tilted up, and scanned her body. The girl was unconscious from the kick and Kusanagi was overwhelmed with confusion and fear.

"Shit shit…" She cursed to herself as she tried to help the girl in some way. She knew that Sayaka was a full-prosthetic cyborg so she should not have too much damage but it still troubled her that she knocked her own girlfriend out. Then again, she questioned why Sayaka was in the apartment in the first place. She also wondered if it was the hallucination that tried to murder her or if it was Sayaka herself….


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

About 30 minutes after Batou left Kusanagi back at his apartment, he received a call while driving from a number he had not recognized as anyone he personally knew. He put the phone to his ear as he steered the car wheel with his free hand.

"Hello?" He answered in his deep but curious voice.

"Batou?" A familiar voice responded. It sounded sweet and innocent so he could already tell whom it was, "It's Sayaka."

"Hey, how'd you get my number?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Kusa gave it to me a while back," Sayaka had a bashful tone to her voice, "I almost forgot about it. She said only to call you for emergencies and I never really needed it since…we hadn't ever even met each other."

"I see." Batou lightly grinned and shook his head; he found it funny that Major used his number as an emergency number for her girlfriends, "Why'd you call? Is there a problem?"

"Oh! No, no, not really…it's just that Kusa hasn't been answering my texts or calls for the past two days…I hope she isn't mad at me for anything…"

"I doubt it. She's been too sick to be mad," He reassured but then realized that his word choice was probably not very reassuring.

"'Sick'? Still? That isn't like her at all…" The worry was now more apparent in her voice.

Her words were gravely true. Batou hadn't really realized the extent of how sick Kusanagi was. He had been so busy running around trying to find out _why_ she was sick that he had not taken the time to see _how_ sick she was.

"How about this…" He began to propose, "You can go to my apartment and see her. I'm sure she would like some company. How about that?"

He could hear a happy sigh from over the phone before Sayaka replied, "That would be great!"

"Do you have cybernetic alterations?" He then asked.

"Mhm! Full-prosthetic exterior with a natural interior," She made sure to be specific for him.

"Okay, then do me and favor and do NOT link up with her," He wanted to be clear, "I think to be safe, just don't make any physical contact. We're not sure what she has but we do not want to risk it spreading."

"Oh, okay, no problem!" She seemed cheerful despite the restrictions.

Batou then proceeded to give her the information about where he lived and how she can get inside his apartment if Kusanagi was unable to get to the door for some reason. Sayaka would utter small sounds as confirmation of his information and when he finished they bid their "goodbyes" and hung up. Batou thought it would be a good thing for Sayaka to visit. He praised himself for being so considerate for once yet at the same time he did not want to make this a common ordeal.

Soon he pulled up to the destination and exited his car. The building was small and it had large neon lights on the outside of it yet they were not turned on since it was almost noon. The sign read "Dream Bar" so he knew he was at the right place. He walked inside and was surprised by how dark the interior was. It almost seemed like it could be nighttime outside due to the atmosphere of the place.

It was all one-level and on the center floor were four rows of six machines spaced out. Each machine had two lounging chairs that allowed people to share in whatever activity they selected. Nonetheless, there was one machine near the corner of the room that was blocked off and had the words "out of service". He was intrigued by the sight and kept that in mind before walking to the front desk. There stood a scrawny young male whom looked fresh out of college. He had black, messy bed-hair and facial piercings decorating his nose, lips, and brows.

"Welcome to the Dream Bar, Sir," The man said in a monotone voice. He looked as if he had just woken up from a long rest, "How may I help you?"

"I'm new here and I'm wondering what kind of services you have." Batou replied, wanting to get to know the unfamiliar area before hopping into the main investigation.

"We have programmed dream sequences, build-your-own dream sequences, memory diving, and simulated gaming." The man replied as if he memorized a script in order to take his position at the counter.

"How does it work?"

"Well, our services cater to full-prosthetic cyborgs as well as altered humans with a cyber-brain." The man began however Batou took slight offence at the choice of words since he thought the two concepts were practically the same and should not be treated as different. "You hook up to the machine and select what program you want to do and then a lot of other techy stuff is involved and boom, it's almost like sticking a game disc in a gaming console. Each program accesses different parts of the brain and what you see is like a virtual reality…I mean it is unless it's a memory. But only two people can go at a time although it is possible to have it set up for a party of four."

"Now what about that machine over there?" Batou cocked his head toward the machine that was out of service, "Why is that down?"

"Oh, people who used it were complaining that they were getting headaches from it or that their dream sequences were actually nightmares." The man scratched the back of his head, "We initially thought it was some sort of minor glitch but just yesterday we had to shut it down. Hopefully some technicians will come by this week to see what the problem is."

Batou was suddenly quiet. He looked at the machine for a long moment before saying, "A friend of mine was here just the other day and she came with a friend as well…her name is Kusanagi, Motoko as I'm sure she paid for the both of them. Mind looking through your records? I want to know which machine she used."

"Sorry, Sir, but we can't give out that sort of infor-"

The man was then silenced by Batou's official Public Security badge from Section 9. He never usually whipped it out to use but today he felt that it was necessary.

"Oh! Right away!" The young man almost jumped and looked awake compared to how Batou first saw him. He logged onto his computer and began searching the Bar's records. He began to nod before saying, "Yep, she's in here. It looks like she paid for a Couple's Dream and then two individual ones."

"Which machines were the individual ones located?"

"Let's see…Row 3 aisle 4," The guy looked up from his computer and then back down to the screen, "and Row 4 aisle 6…" He did not lift his head at the second pair of coordinates because it was obvious which machine it was.

Batou gave a heavy sigh since he had built up false hope that she did not use the malfunctioning machine. He rubbed his forehead out of stress and requested, "May I link up my backup drive to it? I need to know what caused it to malfunction…it is part of my investigation."

"Go ahead but…you're not gonna arrest me for it, are you?" The man was quite intimidated by this cyborg especially with all this talk about an investigation. He did not want to be responsible for anyone whom had received these "headaches" since all his job was hooking people up to machines and then playing cashier.

Batou raised a brow and almost had a grim look on his face. He did not give him an answer because the boy did not deserve one. He went over to the defective machine and pulled out a small device from his coat. It was a small rectangular black box and it had a USB cord protruding from one side of it. He opened the back panel of the machine and hooked the black box up to it before turning it on. A blue digital text appeared on the other side of the box reading "progress: 1%". Batou could already tell that it would take about an hour for it to back up as much data as possible.

The young man was standing nearby him since it was their "polite policy" to follow a government around in case they needed assistance. The boy too could tell that the process would take a while so he offered, "Would you like to try a functioning dream machine for yourself?"

"For how much?" Batou didn't turn his head to look at him.

"Well since you are the first customer of the day who happens to work for Section 9 I guess…free?" The young man gave an unsure grin.

Batou thought for a moment and saw that the backup process had only increased by one percent. He nodded and said, "All right…I'll do it but only for 40 minutes at the most."

"I'll begin preparing your machine." The man gave a light bow to him before scurrying over to what looked to be row 2 aisle 3's machine.

Batou left his backup drive running and trusted that the young man wouldn't touch it. "Why can't I just use the machine next to the one I'm working on?" He asked.

"Because it's not turned on and these take forever to boot up and you don't seem like the type of person to wait around for something like that…"

"How observant of you."

The man had the machine ready and he motioned for Batou to take a seat. The big man did so and he was given a cord from the dream machine to hook up to his neck port. Once doing so, he felt his seat begin to lean back until he was lounging against it.

"You said forty minutes is the maximum right?" The man asked as he was inputting the information, "Do you want to experience a dream or memory?"

"Memory," Batou answered, "I'm not one for fantasies."

"Very well," The man hit enter, "The memory will begin in about 15 seconds. The machine will access a random memory in your subconscious. Using your cyber-brain as a map, you will be able to see and hear everything from a third perspective so you'll be seeing yourself in the memory rather than _being_ yourself, if that makes sense."

"Yeah," Batou replied and could not help but somewhat regret what he was getting himself into, "How will it wake me up?"

"The computer will intervene in your memory once the time is up so that it switches back to your current state."

Being somewhat a pessimist, Batou could think about a hundred different ways that this could go wrong but it was too late. The countdown had ended and the sight of the young, pierced man began to fade to white as his mind began to dive into his memories. His body was in a state of sleep though in his mind he felt awake. At first, it seemed that his mind was void of any memories but suddenly, out of the white space, he began to see a clear picture of reminiscent surroundings.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Batou found himself in a high school classroom. There were no students at their desks or teachers at the teachers' desk. The lights were off but what illuminated the room were the large windows that looked out upon the campus and parts of the city. He knew exactly where he was yet couldn't believe that he had pushed this place so far back into his mind.

All of the sudden, the door connecting to the hallway slid open. Entering the room was a young, 18-year old Batou. He had Caesar-cut ashy brown hair and grey, human eyes. He was tall and well-built for his age which made him popular with friends as well as athletic coaches. The current Batou could barely recognize his younger-self since he only has one picture of himself during this time period which happened to be his graduation photo.

Young Batou took a seat at one of the desks in the front row. Current Batou thought he looked ridiculous in a white uniform shirt with a black tie and black pants. The classroom door opened again and there appeared a gaunt young male with glasses and ruffled black hair.

"Yano? What are you doing here?" Young Batou asked. His voice was deep but not as deep as his current self.

"I want to join as well! I know I'm not as strong or athletic as you but hopefully they could use someone who's great with computers!" Yano replied with determination. He took a seat next to his friend and laid papers out on his desk. Batou had forgotten how much of a nerd that Yano use to be. He chuckled at the sight of him and soon quieted when two adults entered the room causing the boys in the room to stand.

"You're the only two who joined?" The young woman asked with a look of disappointment. She was tall and quite the lovely sight. She had short white hair, red eyes, and metallic arms. She wore a military grey-camouflage suit along with her male partner who wore standard green camouflage. Her partner was a taller man with brunet hair that was pulled back into a ponytail.

"We were hoping for more students…but small groups are easier to work with." The man said with optimism.

"I am Major Yamato." The woman greeted the boys with a gentle smile, "I work for the ranger faction in Section 4."

"I am Cadet Sanders, an American military transfer under the command of Major." The man gave a light bow of his head.

Young Batou and Yano bowed to their superiors and the Major informed, "I established the Local and International Security Communications program for young men and women willing to serve the country through the army or public security after high school. Our goal is to train you physically and mentally so that you will be prepared for anything on the field."

"Before we initiate you both into the program, tell us why you joined." Cadet Sanders requested as he first looked at Yano.

Yano looked a bit nervous as he straightened up a bit, "I want to join because I love this country and I wish to contribute to it by any means necessary!"

"Fair enough," Yamato nodded and she looked over at Batou, "How about you?"

Batou was calm and replied, "I'm smart but not into business. I'm athletic but not into sports. I don't have much interest in the things that most males my age are interested in. I can only imagine myself on the field, not an office cubicle."

Yamato and Sanders looked over at each other as they seemed impressed by his response. "Welcome, to the club," Cadet Sanders chuckled.

Current Batou watched as the young adults begin signing and filing papers, confirming the boys' membership to the program. Major Yamato asked Yano for his name and other personal information so she could log it into her personal data. She then asked Batou for his information.

"My name is Batou." He replied as he stood in front of Yamato's desk.

"'Batou'?" Cadet Sanders repeated while standing near the two, "Comme un bateau."

"He was stationed in France for 4 years so pardon his French…" Major Yamato rolled her eyes and laughed, "But Batou like the Mandarin word for 'eight-heads'."

"I knew that," Cadet almost pouted yet it was obvious that he had no idea whatsoever.

Current Batou remembered how close Sanders and Yamato were. They shared smiles, joked every chance they could get, and were always on the same page for just about everything. Despite their care for each other, they made sure to keep their focus on training Yano and Batou for the rest of the year. Batou looked up to them and wanted to make them proud. In a way, they were like the encouraging older siblings he never had.

The memory would skip month by month, showing how much progress Batou and Yano achieved throughout their training. It would fast-forward like a movie in a DVD player but occasionally play a snippet of a memory at a time.

There was a memory of Cadet Sanders expressing how he wanted to officially join the rangers in Section 4 yet he was not sure if he wanted to give up his human eyes for circular prosthetic ones. Yamato responded to his uncertainty by saying, "No matter what you look like, I only care that you keep your personality."

Young Batou then expressed how he himself would probably not do such a thing in which current Batou scoffed, "Well you're in for a treat…"

The memory showed the physical training and exercises that Batou had to endure. They were strenuous and his superiors were merciless with the tasks but Batou, determined to join the military, accepted any challenge they threw at him. Yano, on the other hand, lacked such physical skill however he had mastered most of the tech that they had introduced him to. Sometimes, rangers of Yamato's unit would come by to visit and share stories about their experiences on the field. They also gave Yano and Batou useful tips and advice for the future.

Being a part of the program was the best decision Batou had ever made but he still could not understand why he pushed away all these memories. What caused him to forget the most important memories that led to him joining the Rangers? He continued to find answers.

Another month passed in the memory and it was the month before graduation. Batou and Yano were standing in the classroom with their training uniforms on as they awaited orders from the Major and Cadet.

"Alright boys, looks like Sanders and I have a very important mission to attend to." Major Yamato informed, "Some off-duty rangers will come in and train you both in our place while we are away."

"Major Yamato, how long will you both be away?" Batou asked respectfully.

"About a month," She replied.

"But don't worry, we'll be back in time for your graduation," Cadet Sanders reassured with a kind grin.

"What's the mission about?" Yano asked.

"That's classified information, young man…" Yamato crossed her arms looking at him a bit sternly before giggling, "But I don't mind telling the two of you."

She explained that one of the world's most wanted terrorists was hiding out in South America. It was the rangers' jobs to go in and take him out while evacuating any hostages he may have. She walked the boys through how the rangers would access the terrorist's base, infiltrate it, and remove the hostages. Batou was in awe by how meticulous the planning was and he certainly wanted to be a part of something like this once he graduated.

The memory was in its final minutes as it revealed the graduation ceremony. It was very simple and all the students wore formal apparel. The memory was a bit blurred at this part but what was very clear was the sight of Sanders standing in the audience along with some other rangers yet Major was not present. Yano seemed to take notice and he had nudged Batou's arm, wanting to know where their superior was but he shook him off with uncertainty.

Finally, the memory skipped through the graduation and showed a scene of the now-graduated Batou visiting his favorite classroom. There sat Sanders at the teacher's desk yet his face was in his hands. His hair was let down from its ponytail and he simply sat there in silence. The lights were not even turned on and it was 19:00 so the windows barely did any justice for lighting.

"Cadet?" Batou stepped inside with caution, uncertain of what to expect.

Cadet Sanders removed his hands and looked over at his pupil. Sanders' face was red and wet; it was easy to tell that he had been crying. "Hey…you're now graduated, huh?" He struggled to even give Batou his usual smile as his voice wavered, "This year went by so quickly…"

Batou gave a nod and asked, "What's wrong? Where's Major?"

Cadet looked down at the table top and closed his eyes, "She's gone."

Silence stood between them and shock filled the air. Batou's eyes widened and he could not comprehend the news. "H-how?" He managed to ask.

Sanders used his thumb to wipe away the tears from his eyes yet more began to slowly spill, "It was during our mission…everything was going so smoothly. We took out the terrorist and his gang and evacuated all the hostages…we did everything like we planned…" He swallowed hard, "But…we didn't anticipate the idea that a bomb was located in the heart of the hideout…Yamato was on her own and had discovered it. She told us that it could wipe out all of the local towns and villages in Peru and I suggested that we call in the bomb squad to defuse it. Being stubborn as always, she refused saying that there was only minutes left on the timer…She told the helicopter pilot nearby to pick her up and didn't mention the bomb to him…She made him fly themselves over the ocean. I think she knew that the bomb could float on the water….so she jumped from the copter and being a full-prosthetic cyborg, she sank to the bottom with the bomb in her arms…before she even jumped she told me, 'Thank you for everything'…"

Batou looked down at his feet and tightened his fists up into a ball. Yamato had sacrificed herself to save the team and everyone in the blast radius of where the bomb was located.

"Isn't it obvious that I loved her? I loved her more than any other woman I had ever met…and I was such a fool…" He covered his face, "I never told her my feelings…and I will never know how she would have even reacted if I did confess my feelings to her…would she have turned me down or confess that she felt the same way? And that's what tears me up the most…You just never know how much you truly feel for someone until they're gone…"

Sanders looked over at his student whom was holding back tears in his own eyes.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like this…I wish I had those prosthetic eyes right about now…" Cadet Sanders stood and he tried to gather himself. He faced Batou and bowed to him. Batou was confused as to why his teacher would bow to him so he bowed back. "Yamato always admired your determination…she would tell me at the end of each week how proud she was of you…" Sanders admitted before handing him a packet of papers, "She had already made a full report on you before the mission with all good things to say so that you can show it to your new superiors…it has both of our signatures."

"Thank you…" Batou finally spoke as he held the files against him.

"Don't make the same mistake that I did…if you care for someone; let them know. I don't give a damn how scandalous it could come out to be or how the other person will react…Humankind simply can't rest well because of the unknown."

The machine began to intervene with the memory. A robotic female voice began to countdown from 10 while the image of Sanders was fading to white. The cord on Batou's neck port began to vibrate, causing him to wake up. He immediately sat up and placing his hands against the temples of his head. He slicked some loose hair back and tried to process everything he saw in his memory. It haunted him. He knew now why he pushed away such a memory. He practically ripped the cord out from his port and stood. He went straight over to his backup drive and saw that it was almost done gathering information.

He had not said a word since he woke up which freaked the young man working in the bar out. "Hey…you okay?" He asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine." Batou responded gruffly. He then noticed an incoming call from Ishikawa in his prosthetic vision.

"Batou, you need to head over to HQ…Aramaki's pissed," Ishikawa stated, "I can't cover for you much longer."

"I'll be over there soon…" Batou replied somewhat quietly, "I also have something for you to decrypt for me."

"Sure thing," Ishikawa nodded before logging off.

There was only one more percent to go on the backup drive. Batou's mind felt heavy from the memory he experienced and he tried to shake the thoughts away. He then decided to check in on Kusanagi to see if she was doing all right.

 _[Major, how's everything?]_ He contacted her.

 _[Everything's under control…Sayaka is going to be okay…]_ She replied yet seemed to be trying to reassure herself rather than Batou.

 _[Wait…What's wrong with Sayaka?]_ He sounded confused.

 _[I'll have to let you go.]_ She then abruptly hung up.

Batou sighed to himself and muttered, "This is going to be a long day…"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sayaka was lying on the big brown bed. She awoke yet writhed as she did so. Her body felt sore and she felt drained of energy. She looked around the unfamiliar room before noticing her girlfriend standing in the back of it. Kusanagi was leaning against the wall with crossed arms and a focused look in her eyes as she studied Sayaka.

The strawberry blonde girl rubbed her eyes and greeted drowsily, "Hey, Kusa…where am I?"

"The same place that you entered." Kusanagi replied plainly.

"Oh yeah…oof, that really hurt…" Sayaka rubbed her jaw slowly since it had the most impact from the Major's foot, "What'd you do that?"

"I thought you were trying to kill me…" Kusanagi took a few steps forward and had a suspicious look on her face.

"What? That's crazy, I wouldn't do that!" Sayaka looked utterly confused, "I just came by to check on you!"

"How did you get in?"

"Batou gave me permission to come here and he gave me instructions on how to get in if you didn't answer the door…" Sayaka almost pouted, she didn't like to be interrogated like she was some sort of criminal. She then shook her head, "What's going on?"

"I was in the tub and at the door I saw a doll…then later on it turned into a life-size geisha…" Kusanagi began to say but as she continued to speak she realized how crazy it did sound, "Anyway…the geisha woman tried to strangle me in the tub…I defended myself and when I sat up to see who it was…it turned out to be you…"

Sayaka rubbed her face with both hands, as she remembered what happened before being knocked out, and replied, "I just walked into the apartment and noticed how quiet everything was until I heard the water from the tub in the bathroom…When I entered the room, you looked at me like you saw a ghost and when I leaned over the tub to check on you and touch your shoulder, you kicked me in the face!"

"So…you didn't try to kill me?"

"Of course not! What reason do I have?" Sayaka was frustrated since Kusanagi probably only partially believed her, "You probably imagined the doll or geisha or whatever…"

Kusanagi looked down and had a look of guilt on her face, "You're right…this isn't the first time I hallucinated something…I'm so sorry…"

Sayaka frowned and reassured softly, "I don't blame you for what happened…you're just sick and need some time to get better…don't apologize, I'm a full prosthetic too so the soreness is temporary."

Kusanagi was somewhat reassured by her words yet still felt culpable for kicking her girlfriend in the face. She then nodded and thanked her.

Sayaka looked around and asked, "How long was I out?"

"About an hour and a half," Kusanagi replied as she helped Sayaka out of bed.

"Really? Goodness! I have to get going!" Sayaka exclaimed when she saw the time. She gathered up her things, "I'm supposed to meet my parents in 10 minutes…I'm sorry for the short visit."

"It's fine, go on ahead." Kusanagi assured the girl.

Sayaka lightly smiled and said kindly, "I hope you get feel better soon. Batou better be taking good care of you! I'd kiss you but he told me no physical contact of that sort," She giggled.

"Of course he did…" Kusanagi briefly chuckled. They walked to the living room together and soon Sayaka waved goodbye before leaving the apartment.

Once the girl left, Kusanagi took a deep, shaken breath; these hallucinations cannot go on. What happened earlier was proof that this virus not only endangered herself, but others. She felt bad for hurting innocent Sayaka and for not believing her in the beginning. She rubbed the back of her neck until she suddenly felt a device lodged in her neck port. She pulled it out and knew that it was a small monitor for brain activity and her heartrate status.

'So that's how he knows…' She thought to herself before placing in on the kitchen counter nearby, 'He shouldn't worry so much about me.'

Batou walked into Section 9 with the black backup drive in his hand. He looked serious and intimidating as always when walking toward the elevators. While standing in the elevator, he realized how lonely it was without the Major being there for him to talk to. He could already imagine her standing next to him with the usual lost look in her eyes; the look of someone who was physically there but mentally elsewhere. That's what fascinated him about her and that's what made him worry about her.

The elevator doors opened and he was greeted by his coworker, Togusa, "Hey there, Big Guy. How's the wife?"

"She's been better," Batou accepted the joke while walking to the office area.

"I'm sure, but a semi-truck should not have done _that_ much damage," Togusa pointed out.

Batou realized that no one knew what was truly wrong with Major. He looked aside and said a bit quietly, "She has a virus, Togusa…"

"Wait…the Major has a-?"

"Not so loudly!" Batou hushed the man, "It's best if only a few people know for now…"

"I understand that but…that's against protocol…" Togusa looked very concerned.

"Yeah well, it happened…and I'm trying to find a way to fix it…" Batou said with determination. They made it to Ishikawa whom was leaning back in his chair with his arms resting behind his head.

"Hey, you finally made it! Aramaki's been on my ass about you…" Ishikawa informed, relieved to see that his friend finally returned.

Batou handed him the black box and spoke in a very serious tone, "This backup drive contains a virus from a malfunctioned dream machine...Kusanagi has this virus and I need you to figure out what it is, where it originated from, and how do we get rid of it…"

Ishikawa's brows raised and replied, "You're serious?" He took a deep breath while nodding, "Alright…For the Major."

"For the Major…" Batou repeated as he turned to head to Aramaki's office.

Batou knocked on the door to the office before having Aramaki's verbal permission to enter the room. The Old Ape sat at his desk and had a scowl on his face. Batou expected it and was not too fazed by it, though he did not particularly like being stared at by him.

"Batou…The Major has been gone for several days," Aramaki tapped his fingers against the desk, "Repairs take less than a day. What is going on?"

Batou sat quietly and thought of what he was going to tell his boss. He knew he couldn't lie to him any longer so it was only best to tell the truth and face consequences. "She has a virus."

"What?!" Aramaki planted his hand against the desk, "'A virus'? That's impossible! She has all the latest upgrades and protection…there is no way that she could have gotten a virus! Why did you not tell me earlier?"

"I wanted to launch my own personal investigation…I have already gathered plenty of information on it."

"But that violates Cybernetic Health protocol! Having her out and running around in public could risk others getting that same virus as well as compromising our company!"

"That's why she hasn't been 'out and running around in public'," Batou rebuked, "I have been keeping her at my hideout…there's not much technology there and I am her only visitor…" He decided to leave Sayaka out of the topic.

"You're not a technician, Batou, nor her babysitter," Aramaki remarked, "Major Kusanagi is Section 9's property. If she needs repairs, _we_ handle it. If she needs an upgrade, _we_ give her one. If she has a virus, _we_ find a way to get rid of it!"

Batou's brows furrowed when Aramaki referred to Kusanagi as "property". It was such an ugly and discriminatory term used to describe her as and it highly offended him. "She's a person, Aramaki…" He almost growled, "She's tired of being treated like some household applicant…She has freewill and feelings."

"Not under our contract…" Aramaki shook his head before turning and looking out the window.

Batou felt like he could strangle his own boss because of how angry he was with him. His mind was spinning and right when he stood to say something else, Ishikawa opened the door.

"Hey, um…Aramaki, Batou…there's something you both should see…" Ishikawa was holding a partially folded laptop in his arms, "I'm sure you already told him about the virus…"

"Yes…I did…" Batou almost glared at the Chief.

Aramaki turned and asked, "What did you find?"

"So I opened up the files on the backup drive that Batou gave me and I just knew exactly what it was after looking at the code," Ishikawa explained as he opened up the laptop and began pulling up a profile. The picture was of a man, possibly in his early 20s, who had long, dreaded sandy –colored hair and two different colored eyes; the left one was red as the right one was violet. The picture was of his mugshot and his head was slightly cocked toward one side as his eyes looked toward the ceiling. He definitely had a creepy look to him. "This is one of the world's most youngest and talented machine hackers," Ishikawa introduced the criminal, "He has committed countless cybercrimes since the age of 15 and was only caught once yet he was out on bail from a third party source in the U.S. His penname is Hypnos and he is known as the 'Dream Catcher'."

Aramaki had heard of this man and was intrigued that he had shown up after years of dormancy from the public eye.

"We don't know of his origins or even his real name…but what we do know is that he specializes in infiltrating machines used by the public such as ATMs, cybercafé computers, and especially dream machines. Hypnos implants a custom virus he has created and infects these machines with it; he pretty much steals personal information from whoever uses them…" Ishikawa scrolled through the man's files, "He has been quiet for the past three years but this is proof that he's returned and if it weren't for Major getting infected, we probably wouldn't have ever found him."

"What does the virus do to the person?" Batou asked while trying to keep his cool.

"In the first stages, the virus downloads the victims' personal information through their cyber brain. After doing so, he has control of whatever other cybernetic enhancements that person may have. Most of his victims turned out to be people with just cyber brains so all they worry about it identity fraud, however, he has gotten his hands on a few full-prosthetic cyborgs and…they didn't end so well."

Batou tried not to show the sudden worry he felt and he asked, "What happened to them?"  
"Well, once he has downloaded all their information…he can pretty much take control of what goes on in their head and how they interact with the environment. A few cyborgs got off easy yet others were forced to commit crimes for him, causing his victims to be framed for something they probably would never have done in their lives," Ishikawa stroked his beard, "He calls the virus 'Sleep Consciousness', it's a play on the idea of sleep paralysis which is when the human body is asleep however the mind is awake and when they look around, they see their dreams in real life. The virus does the opposite; it causes the cyborg's cyber brain to partially shut off while the body is conscious, mixing hallucinations and memories with reality. It's very dangerous and I am certain that ever since he has infected the Major, he has been looking through her eyes…he is studying her environment, who her friends are, and perhaps where she works…"

Aramaki was shocked by the revelation and he looked down at his feet. "She cannot come back to Section 9…" He gave in, as he initially wanted her to return right away, "Not until the virus is extracted."

"How _can_ it get extracted?" Batou asked almost grimly.

"I'm not too sure…that's not my field of expertise…" Ishikawa replied honestly.

"Batou. Ishikawa. You both are dismissed." Aramaki turned and faced them, "I will speak with the advisors in what our plan of action will be." He looked straight at Batou and pointed his index finger at him saying sternly, "Do NOT tell Major anything that we have discussed here…do not mention Hypnos or anything pertaining to him. Come back tomorrow and we will discuss further plans with the team."

"Yes, Sir," Batou finally responded sullenly. He exited the room with his bearded friend but was suddenly stopped by him in the hallway.

"You need to really watch your back, Batou…" Ishikawa warned him, "Hypnos has probably been watching your every move and he could use the Major against you… You told me a few days ago not to 'overestimate' her…well now I'm telling you not to _under_ estimate _him_."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It was late afternoon in the cyber city and Batou solemnly returned to his apartment. He was not allowed to tell Kusanagi anything that he, Ishikawa, and Aramaki discussed which troubled him greatly because he was one to tell her everything. They could talk for endless hours and never get tired of each other's conversations. He could pour his whole life's story out to her and she would take the time to listen. He could tell her everything…what a lie. He clearly could not tell her his feelings about her. Why? Now he was not so sure. He had nothing to lose. Perhaps, he was afraid of how she would treat him if differently. He was afraid that a confession could break the relationship they currently have and though he would enjoy a much deeper relationship, he simply could not risk this one.

He entered the living room and greeted aloud, "I'm back."

He received no response. The apartment felt suddenly desolate that it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. He scanned the room and noticed the neck monitor on the kitchen counter. He went over to it and right when he was about to pick it up, he stopped his hand in its tracks and left the device alone. He could not explain why he felt so antsy. It was probably from all the talk of Hypnos and how he could turn his closest companion against him at any moment. He shook away the thoughts, reassuring himself that Kusanagi was well in control of herself.

"Hello." Her familiar voice abruptly greeted out of the silence.

For once, she successfully startled the big man and he responded, "Shit! Trying to spook me?"

"Why not?" She slightly tilted her head aside and almost grinned. She was standing next to the bedroom door with her trademark crossed arms. "How was Aramaki?"

"You know…Old and cranky as usual." Batou shrugged.

"What did he say?"

"He was just on my ass about me being absent lately."

Kusanagi somewhat narrowed her eyes asking, "Did he ask for me?"

"Yeah but I just told him that your repairs have been prolonged."

"So…he does not suspect anything?"

Batou was obviously having a hard time lying to the Major. He avoided eye-contact with her (which probably was an evident sign for his fibs) as he responded with, "Not that I'm aware of."

Kusanagi stared at him for a long moment before simply replying with, "Right."

Batou suddenly decided to change topics and he asked, "So how was Sayaka? I sent her over here to see you and if I recall, you said something about her being 'okay'? I was a little confused."

Kusanagi was now the one off-guard. She did not want to mention the incident earlier and she wasn't really sure why. She just had an urge to do so, "Sayaka? Oh yes, she…she was good company. She simply came by and visited with me for an hour or so. We just talked."

"What did you two talk about?" Batou began taking a few food items out of the kitchen cabinets so he could keep himself busy.

"I am not sure if that is any of your business."

"Knowing you, what you two talk about must be inappropriate…" He teased.

She briefly chuckled at the tease and replied with a scoff, "You dog."

Batou finally began to make them a small dinner. They both were now quiet as they were mentally going through the lies they were keeping from each other. They were not aware that they were actually playing the same game but on different fields. As he cooked, he noticed that Kusanagi had disappeared again. He suspected that she has been going in and out of the bedroom for whatever reason since there was not much place to roam around in the apartment.

The rooms gradually began to smell of artificial udon noodles. It was a pleasant smell compared to Section 9's handy microwaveable noodles. The smell must have attracted the female because now Kusanagi was sitting on Batou's chair in the living room. Batou looked over at her from behind the kitchen counter with a look of admiration. He felt a sort of honor for having the Major sit on his recliner seeing that as in a strange way, he felt the chair was a part of him which helped bring comfort to Kusanagi.

"Food's ready." He soon announced as he poured a bowl of soup for himself and Kusanagi. He served them their food and they ate together quietly in the living room. The food was good as far as a cyborg could tell but of course, human tongues like Batou's would be more sensitive to that than Kusanagi. Since there was not any television background noise on, Batou decided to start a small conversation, "Once you're better, I think I'm going to have to get myself a pet since I'm so use to taking care of you now."

"Are you comparing me to an animal, Sir?" Her blue eyes almost threateningly shot over to look at him.

"Aren't we all?"

"You may be, but not I," She said before sipping at her noodles, "Besides, household pets are rare to find nowadays unless you leave the country, invest in a clone, or run into a stray."

"I guess you're right." Batou shrugged, "I wouldn't even know what to get if I decided to get one."

"I see you as a dog person." Kusanagi stated.

"What makes you say that?"

"It depends." She set aside her bowl and sat in her chair with crossed legs, "I imagine you to either get a guard dog whom is loyal and always on the lookout or a quiet dog who likes to be spoiled but has a great love for you whether you feed her or not."

"'Her'?"

"Can a territorial dog like you get along with another male dog?" She continued her own joke of calling him a dog earlier, "Surely not."

She stood and offered to take his now empty bowl into the kitchen. He refused, wanting to be a gentleman by doing it himself yet she turned down his refusal. Batou lost the battle of the dishes and thus he lied back against the couch in tired defeat. He sighed in relaxation and he stared up at the ceiling. He could hear the water faucet in the sink running and hitting the bowls. He almost felt like falling asleep but before he decided to hit the hay, he wanted to take a quick shower since he didn't get to do so at HQ.

"I'll be in the shower if you need me." Batou announced as he passed by the kitchen.

"Is that an announcement or a suggestion?" She barely turned her head from washing the dishes.

"Huh? You mean-…" He was thrown off by the question, unsure of what was appropriate to assume.

"Kidding," She chuckled as she was beginning to finish up cleaning.

Batou shook his head with a light chortle but quieted when he noticed that the heart/brainwave monitor was missing from the counter top. He was about to question its whereabouts but he decided that the device wasn't of such importance. It was useful when it was used but now that it had been rejected, it didn't matter. He left the room and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Night fell upon the city. Batou had bid the Major goodnight when he returned from his shower just an hour earlier. Kusanagi lay in bed but she could not fall asleep. She was holding up the small, dark grey monitor between her thumb and middle finger while slowly turning it in every angle.

"Why did I take this?" She asked herself quietly, "I do not need this…"

" _You_ don't. But maybe _he_ does." She heard a suspicious male voice say. It was a voice she could not recognize so she sat up in her bed in alarm.

"Who said that?" She looked around the dark room.

"A part of you, my dear…" The voice responded with a coo, "You have no idea how long it took me to completely download your files."

"Download my…you must be…!"

"I am the god of sleep," He continued, "Those who defy me, are given nightmares. You, however, cannot dream which makes things a bit…difficult to say the least but no worries, I am taking good care of you."

"I don't understand…" Kusanagi replied and she began to rub her temple, "Is this another hallucination?"

"Interacting with a god must feel so unreal, I do not blame you."

"What kind of 'god' speaks to machines?" She responded with skepticism.

"Only the best kind."

Kusanagi tried to move herself off the bed but she suddenly felt her upper body being thrown back against the mattress. It was almost paranormal.

"Be a good girl and listen…" He could be heard sighing, "I am testing to see if I have full control of your body functions. You only move, speak, and breathe when I tell you to."

"Y-You bastard…" She could feel herself struggling to speak.

"Now, I want you to stand, walk into the living room, and stick the monitor into the man's neck port," He ordered, "Do I make myself clear?"

"I would not do that to him…" Kusanagi almost hissed, not trusting this stranger's words, "I will not do it."

"Then I will."

Kusanagi felt her body stand on its own. She had the monitor device engulfed in her right fist and she tried to let go of it so it could drop to the floor. It was no use. She began to walk towards the bedroom door and a part of her began to drift. She felt like she was in sort of zombie state. She had no intention to move or do anything yet her body moved without her consent. Her eyes widened when Batou was finally in her sight. He was resting on his side on the couch with his back facing toward Kusanagi.

"I love to see people sleep…'tis almost as if that person is dead; it fascinates me beyond belief. Can you imagine your friends being dead? Surely you have, as a full-prosthetic cyborg, you will outlive ALL of your friends and you will be all alone." The voice continued to speak at a slow and unsettling pace, "Unless…something happens to YOU, which would be a shame…you have such a beautiful body. Your only flaws are your lack of dreams, memories of youth, and emotion."

"Don't make me do this…" She almost pleaded. His words shot through her mind and she had quick flashing visions of her friends' bodies lying about the city. They were mutilated and covered with blood. She was now only feet away from Batou. Her hand was trembling and when the device came close to his neck, she opened her mouth to yell his name.

Before she could even make a sound, the mysterious man's voice said, "Disabling vocal abilities."

Her head was bobbing from side to side as she felt her vocal cords tightening and shutting down. She could no longer speak or make any sort of sound at the moment. The device's plug terminals ultimately united with Batou's port and the monitor was now connected to him. He made no reaction, he was too tired to notice anything and Kusanagi squeezed her eyes shut in ruin.

Kusanagi felt her body functions return after a couple of minutes and she was able to move and speak on her own. She looked down at her own hands and opened and closed her fingers, making sure that they could work properly. She looked at Batou and reached for the monitor, wanting to pull out until her body was taken over again.

"If you try to pull that monitor out or even tell him about what's going on…I will make you grab the Jericho 942 that he keeps underneath the coffee table and I will make you blow his fucking brains out all over the couch." The man's voice raised and he sounded absolutely aggressive to the point that even the Major was intimidated, "So I suggest you go back to the room and sleep; Rest that beautiful body of yours."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kusanagi could not sleep at all that night. The sunlight filled the room and hit her restless eyes. She looked miserable and exhausted. She needed to be in rest mode for at least two hours to function normally but she could not even nap for five minutes without being haunted by another gory vision or hallucination from Hypnos. She heard footsteps walking towards the room so she pulled out a long deba knife that she had taken from the kitchen and placed underneath her pillow. She stood with her left arm hovering across her chest as her right arm was extended out a bit more while the blade was pointed toward the door; she was in an excellent fighting stance and was ready to attack anything that entered.

Entering the room was a large werewolf-like creature. It had rows of sharp teeth and glowing white cybernetic eyes. It snarled at her and when it did, blood dripped from its mouth. It stood on its hind legs and was hunched over as it began to take a step closer and closer to her. Kusanagi used her knife and swiped at it but the beast dodged the attack. She stepped forward swiping again yet after doing so, she was pushed up against the wall with her wrists well pinned to it as well as her body so she could not make another attack. The monster's face was near hers and it was breathing coarsely. She closed her eyes, feeling defeated and when she opened them back up, she saw Batou before her. He was the one pinning her up against the wall. She had suffered yet another hallucination.

"What the hell are you doing?" Batou almost barked at her, "Are you trying to kill me?!"

Kusanagi's eyes stared at him for a long moment before slowly turning her head to look over at the knife she was still holding. She rolled her wrist and let it fall from her hand without injuring herself or Batou. "I thought…I saw…" She began but knew that if she explicitly explained what happened, then Hypnos would do something unpredictable.

Batou struggled to keep the serious look on his face because he could not help but look saddened. She really was losing control of herself and it terrified him greatly. He did not know what to do at this point besides talk to the others at Section 9 but after what Aramaki said about the Major yesterday, he just wasn't sure. He realized that he still had her up against the wall so he loosened his grip and began to step back.

To his surprise, Kusanagi moved forward and had her body pressed to his while she placed her hands and forearms on his chest. Her forehead touched his sternum and she said quietly, "I would never hurt you…at least not like how we did when we first came across each other…if I want to throw a punch at you…I would make you punch yourself…but other than that, I would never hurt you…"

Batou's arms slowly wrapped around her body and he gently embraced her. He trusted her word. What Kusanagi did moments ago was something she would never do to anyone else (unless a criminal), though according to her, never to him. "I would never hurt you either, Motoko…" He practically whispered, "I would never lay a hand or weapon against you…"

Kusanagi looked up at him and in her eyes were melancholy and fatigue. Batou had the greatest urge to kiss her. He wanted to simply kiss the ever living hell out of her until the virus went away…but alas, he could not bring himself to do it.

Kusanagi gently pushed herself away from him suggesting, "You should leave now…It is best if I do not see anyone…others tend to trigger more 'realistic' hallucinations…"

"I understand…" Batou stepped back, "Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"

Kusanagi looked out the window and replied, "I made it this far…how hard could another day be?"

"You'd be surprised…" Batou turned and picked up his cooking knife. He then declared, "I'm not letting you wash the dishes again."

Kusanagi could not help but give a small chuckle at the comment, "Just get to work soldier…" She was beginning to feel better before she remembered that Batou had the monitor device still lodged in the back of his neck. It was small enough for him not to feel it when he had put his hair up in a ponytail. She wished that he could feel it so he could yank it out as soon as possible. She did not know what Hypnos was planning to do with it and frankly she was afraid to find out.

All the members of the Major's team were gathered in the meeting room. Aramaki had called them in over his concern about the reappearance of the "Dream Catcher". Togusa was assigned to research anyone else whom may have received the Sleep Consciousness virus these past few months to see if there was a sort of pattern to this Hacker's cyber-attacks. Saito, Borma, and Pazu were present in the room and awaited orders. Ishikawa was at his computers and was decoding the components of the virus using an emulator. He was close to finding a solution but he was supposed to keep quiet until it was 100% sufficient. Batou soon entered the room and the meeting began.

"Batou, I spoke with the advisors yesterday after you all left," Chief Aramaki began, "And they all agree that it is best to take Major Kusanagi back to Megatech for proper examination."

Batou corrugated his brows a bit; he did not like the idea. All he could think about was the technicians tearing away at Kusanagi's body until she was only scrap so they could practically replace her with something "new" and "better" all while losing memories of him and the team in the process. He kept silent.

"I know what you are thinking Batou…" Aramaki was able to read Batou's face like a book, "And that would be their last resort…I put Ishikawa in charge of finding the best upgrades and protection programs to install into her which can help combat Hypnos' control over her..."

"Have any trouble with her?" Togusa looked up from his small laptop that he had in the meeting room, "Sources say that the virus has full control of a full prosthetic host after three days though when the host is in shut down mode, it cannot affect them for that time."

Batou sighed and admitted, "There was a little trouble…but I have it all under control."

"Quit making excuses to keep her!" Aramaki squawked, "I wouldn't be surprised if she developed Stockholm syndrome due to how long she has been in your care…"

"Alright…I've had enough of your chatter…" Batou felt like walking over to the small man to slap the shit out of him yet Borma and Saito pulled him back by the sleeves of his coat, calming the hot-head down.

Aramaki looked over at the screen which had projected images of Hypnos' mugshot and pictures of his victims. It was astonishing to see how many people were affected by this single hacker even if some of the people suffered only minor damage.

"I found some recent victims." Togusa announced.

"Go ahead." Aramaki permitted.

"Hasekura Komachi, a female from southern Japan, was a full-prosthetic cyborg whom stabbed her grandmother to death with a kitchen knife and after doing so, she stole all the money she could find in the residence. She also took valuable items to sell on the black market…when she was taken into custody, she told the local police that she thought her grandmother was a Caspian tiger…of course no tiger was found especially since that subspecies has been extinct since the 1960s," Togusa informed. The information was disturbing to Batou since it reminded him of what happened just this morning. "Matsumiya Chie, a female from central Japan, was also a full-prosthetic. She went to the bank an hour before closing time and withdrew all of her money as well as her husband's from their accounts. She left the city with the cash and ended up in an abandoned boathouse where she was later found dead. She had shot herself with a pistol that seemed to have been provided to her since her husband could not recognize it and naturally, all the money was gone. These were the two most recent cases that were not originally linked with Hypnos until now…it's quite depressing."

"Over 90% of his victims are female…" Pazu added after scanning some of the information on the screen, "He must really hate women…"

"All his male victims seem to only have dents in their bank accounts rather than on their bodies," Togusa pointed out, "I see no record of them getting themselves or others killed in any way."

"Batou…just let us handle Major from now on." Aramaki concluded as he looked at the burly man with a look of concern.

Batou looked at the ground. He felt that if he turned Kusanagi over to him, he would have failed her but at the same time, Aramaki was probably right…Batou couldn't help her on his own. After hearing those two cases, he could not risk someone being killed by her or her being killed by her own hand. No matter how much he convinced himself that he could help her, he simply couldn't. He didn't have the resources and all he could provide was comfort with no remedy. He gave a heavy sigh and uttered the word, "Fine."

Aramaki nodded and he turned to Borma, "I need you to contact the quarantine squad right away. Tell them that they are going to bring in Kusanagi Motoko to the containment chambers at Megatech. Make sure that Ishikawa leaves with them when he is ready. He will give the squad suggestions on what to do with her since he has gathered more specific information about the virus."

"Roger." The man responded before leaving the room.

Aramaki then turned to Pazu, "I want you to reopen Hasekura and Matsumiya's cases now that we know whom the perpetrator is. The local police may get involved but we can certainly take Hypnos into custody and with those cases open, it will provide more evidence to the court and add more time to him."

"I'm on it." Pazu replied.

"Saito, I want you to track and locate Hypnos. Ishikawa said that when he controls someone, he is within a 50 mile radius of that person." Aramaki looked at the one-eyed man.

"Yes, Sir," Saito replied suavely.

"And Batou…" Aramaki faced him, "Keep quiet. Like yesterday, don't tell her anything. The squad will come and take her this afternoon around 15:00. Just walk her outside and leave her to them."

Batou made no response in word or movement. The chief left the room and Batou rubbed his forehead in stress.

Togusa sat awkwardly at his laptop and he shrugged, "So I guess I'm not needed for this…"

"I have something for you to look up." Batou finally spoke, "Could you go through the Dream Bar's client database and look up who used the machine in row four aisle six these past few days? I remember that weird kid who worked there told me that a fewpeople reported headaches and nightmares after using the machine so there could be a few more victims to add to Hypnos' list."

"I can do that." Togusa nodded as he accessed the Dream Bar's server using Section 9'specialized "key" which allowed them to enter any sort of database from almost any company. He scrolled through the names of people whom used the specific machine until finally noting that the three most recent names were in a red font as all the other ones were black. "The red must mean that these people had a complaints about the machine…the first person is a man named Takagi Soetsu. It says that 'he experienced a nightmare that felt too real and he yelled in fright in the middle of his session'. The next person is Major and it says that 'her friend told the staff that Kusanagi was experiencing headaches after using machine 4-6'."

"Of course Major wouldn't be the one to complain about something like that…" Batou almost chuckled.

"Katsumata Sayaka was the last person to make a complaint before the machine was shut down for repairs. She told the manager that 'she experienced violent nightmares and was suffering a headache shortly afterwards'."

Batou silenced himself once he recognized the name, "'Sayaka'…." He repeated to himself.

Togusa noticed the troubled look spreading across his friend's face and he asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Sayaka, she…" Batou began and he could feel his heart pounding out of fear of knowing that she was infected and had total access to Kusanagi at the apartment.

An incoming call appeared in his field of vision and it said it was from Kusanagi.

 _[Major! Is everything-?]_ Batou was suddenly interrupted.

 _[Calm yourself, Batou. Your heartrate has spiked so dramatically!]_ A man's voice replied instead of Kusanagi, _[She is just fine. She is in my absolute care…]_

Before Batou could even respond, he touched the back of his neck and could feel the monitor in his port. He quickly removed it before throwing it onto the floor and smashing it with his foot which caused Togusa to jump in his seat. Batou was afraid of what this could possibly mean. He knew who this voice belonged to even though he had never heard it before until now.

 _[It's too late, Big Man…You are_ _i͆͐͋͋̔̑͢͏nfe̷̪͇̬̺̭ͤͥ͒̿̓ͪ͗͘͜c̢̖͇͈͌t̯̟͇͖̓ͯͫ͘͢͠ȩ̶͓̿̍̑̎͆d̵̦̭̻̫͖̞̿ͥ͐͞.]_ Hypnos laughed.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Batou had hopped into his car with Togusa as his passenger and they were off to head back to the apartment. He knew something was gravely wrong and he needed backup in case things got messy. Togusa had tightened his seatbelt and was practically clinging onto anything he could find for dear life due to how fast Batou was driving. He passed car after car and would briefly drive into the opposite lane when they were too many "slow" drivers ahead of him.

They pulled up to the curb at the lot the apartment center was on and right when they exited the car, they heard a loud crash from a window. Two females had jumped from the twelfth floor and were hurdling toward the earth. They landed on a delivery truck, denting it to the point where it was almost broken in half. Batou knew that only full-prosthetic bodies could cause such damage so he ran towards the scene.

Bystanders were spooked by all the commotion and they went to the delivery truck to see what was going on. Of course, the young adults pulled out their phones and began to record the situation. From the wreckage of the truck, there stood Kusanagi. She was wearing her grey low-cut tank top and black shorts and was barely damaged from the drop. Everything seemed normal except at closer inspection, one could see a pattern of circuit board-like lines spreading from her neck port, down her upper back, and up to the corners of her eyes. The look on her face was placid and though it could be taken as one of her normal looks, it simply was not. Sayaka sat up and was just below Kusanagi. She had an angered yet wounded look to her and she too did not seem like her normal self. She tried to get up but Kusanagi threw a hard punch to her face, causing the girl to fall back down.

"Holy shit, Batou! She's in the final stages of the virus…" Togusa looked afraid of the woman whom he called "Major".

"Dammit…" Batou cursed and was almost horrified by the sight of a transformed Kusanagi. She was no longer herself and he could not help her.

Kusanagi saw Sayaka as the geisha like before and when she looked around at the bystanders, she saw them as mere dolls. Her irises were no longer blue but instead a dark green color. The sclera of her eyes had turned a dark grey as her skin seemed to have gotten paler. She stepped off of the truck and silently walked toward the crowd of people. The spectators moved away from her and were suddenly frightened by the infected woman. Their phones and other electronic devices began to glitch and shut off automatically as she walked near them.

Kusanagi then walked back over to the truck and pulled out a GLOCK 43 pistol from Sayaka's hand. The crowd must have noticed because the sounds of screams could be heard from them. Kusanagi pointed the gun at Sayaka's head and was ready to fire it at any moment.

"Don't do it!" Batou yelled as he began to run towards them.

Kusanagi ignored the yell and just when she was about to pull the trigger, a shot could be heard from a faraway source. The GLOCK had been shot out of Kusanagi's hand by Saito whom was in a building just two blocks down the road.

 _[I was just in the area to search for that Hypnos Bastard]_ Saito contacted Batou, _[You're lucky I received a report of what was going on here.]_ The sound of him reloaded his trusty sniper rifle could be heard in the background.

The pistol was now on the road below and Batou hurried over to it to pick it up. He reached his hand for it yet recoiled when it was almost struck by Kusanagi's foot. As a last resort, he kicked the gun underneath the truck so neither of them would grab it in the middle of their confrontation. Togusa saw this as his opportunity to retrieve it himself so he began to try and sneak by to make it on the other side of the truck.

Kusanagi was throwing a combination of quick kicks and punches at Batou. To her, he looked like the cybernetic werewolf from earlier that morning. He refused to fight her back so he simply tried to block the smaller attacks and dodge the stronger ones. Either way, he felt pain spreading through the organic parts of his body. He was taking much damage but he would much rather take it than for Kusanagi to get hurt whether she was really in that shell or not.

Togusa was crawling underneath of the truck and he extended his arm to reach the GLOCK. He grabbed it and slid out from the truck yet he was met with infected Sayaka. She had a wide grin on her face and she cocked her head saying in a peppy voice, "I would like my gun please~"

Togusa was startled by the girl's presence and he aimed the gun at her in defense, "Sayaka…I suggest you get down on the ground…"

"Why would I do that?" She asked with a pout, "You can go ahead and shoot me! I don't mind~"

"You're crazy…" Togusa had trouble understanding her logic. He remembered that she was most likely being controlled by Hypnos though he was amazed that the hacker could control two people at once. She lunged to attack him but he evaded it by rolling aside. He finally shot her ankles which now left the girl unable to walk. Sayaka fell against the road and pushed her upper body up. She smiled at Togusa and began to quickly crawl towards him; there was no stopping her madness.

Back over to Batou and Kusanagi, the battle seemed to drag on. Batou was getting tired from constantly dodging and blocking the attacks yet Kusanagi did not hold back. When the man stumbled back a bit, Kusanagi pulled her right fist back before releasing it like an arrow to a bow. It hit him square in the chest and he fell back a few yards, the wind was taken out of him. He was struggling to catch his breath and before he knew it, Kusanagi pressed her heavy foot against his chest, making it a hundred times harder for him to breathe.

"Mo…toko…" He strained himself to say. This was the end. He was going to die by the person he loved most in life. In theory, it would sound like a nice way to go but in this predicament it was ironically tragic.

"Batou…" She seemed to reply on her as she slowly began to realize that this was not another werewolf creature she had to deal with, but her closest companion. She stepped off of him and had trouble deciphering what was real and what was not. Her vision was greatly clouded with hallucinations and would occasionally glitch, showing her the briefest of glimpses of reality.

Four large white ambulance-looking vehicles had arrived. They blocked both ends of the roads and had the rears of the cars facing everyone. The back doors flew open and tall men in white hazmat suits exited the vehicles. Their faces were completely covered by gasmasks and there was no inch of skin showing. It was definitely the quarantine squad.

"Kusanagi Motoko," One of the squad members called out. His gasmask also worked as a small megaphone so he could be heard from under the suit, "We're here to fix you. Come cleanly or we will take you by force."

Ishikawa was the last to exit a vehicle and when he saw the Major he commented in astonishment, "Damn…this is much worse than I thought…"

Togusa was still dealing with Sayaka but he was able to get her arms behind her back, however, he had to hold her wrists together since he did not have time to grab handcuffs. "Could you guys please take Miss Sayaka in as well?" Togusa seemed worn out from running around with the girl.

The man in the suit nodded and sent two team members over to Sayaka. The had a device in which they placed it up against Sayaka's neck port and pulled a trigger contraption, causing a shock wave to go through her prosthetic body. Within seconds, she was in shut down mode, no longer being controlled by Hypnos for the time being. The two men then started to carry her to one of the cars.

On the other hand, Kusanagi did not seem to want to go without a fight. The quarantine squad, in her view, looked like shadow people with large owl-like red eyes. She had a scowl on her face as she made her way over to them. The hazmat men lined up side by side and pulled out what looked to be shotguns.

When she was a certain distance away from them, they began firing. It took a few rounds to knock her down and once she was on the ground, the men rushed over to her and began to blindfold her, place a wax-like substance in her ears, handcuff her wrists, all before shutting her down. The ammunition they fired were rubber bullets so it did no lethal damage to her body. It took three of the men to carry her back to their car.

"Let me…go with you…" Batou was trembling in pain as he forced himself to stand, "I think…I'm infected too…"

One of the men overheard him and brought a separate device over to his neck port. It did an internal scan of the cyborg's hard drive and when it completed he replied, "Negative, Sir. However, I do suggest you see a medic. You may have a few bone fractures you need to tend to." The suited man left and Ishikawa hopped into the car that Kusanagi was in.

Batou was utterly confused. Hypnos himself said that he was infected unless he was lying…but what good does that do? Togusa ultimately made his way over to his wounded friend and patted his back which caused the big man to wince a bit.

"S-Sorry!" Togusa immediately apologized for the friendly pat, "She must've given you a good beating, huh?"

"I'll be fine…" Batou replied before offering, "Do you need a ride home?"

"No, no, I can walk," Togusa reassured him, "Besides, your apartment is right there and you need to get patched up. I can call over a medic for you."

"I can handle this myself…" Batou sounded frustrated, not wanting all the help.

When Batou returned to his apartment room, he noticed that the place was almost completely trashed. From what he saw earlier, he could assume that Sayaka had entered the room and when she saw Kusanagi, she attacked her and they both fought about the rooms. There were cracks in the wall, damaged furniture, a few broken plates, and items in places that they were not originally in. He entered the bedroom and saw that the large window was boarded up, presumably by the apartment staff who overheard the commotion.

"This is going to be a bitch to clean…" Batou muttered to himself.

He went into the bathroom and was relieved that it was untouched by any sort of violence. He removed his clothes and began to examine his bare body. It was covered with fresh bruises and random scars. The metal to his prosthetic arm began to show in a few places since the artificial skin had been slightly torn. He kept note of the possible bone fractures and he was sure that at least two of his ribs were broken.

"So much for never hurting me…" Batou sighed but knew that it was not really _her_ when she attacked him. Even if she did hurt him, he would not mind. He cared for her so much that no matter what happened to him, as long as Kusanagi was alive and well, he was content. The guilt of not being able to help her himself lingered in his mind; He knew she hated being at Megatech or anyplace that kept her caged like a bird and tested like a lab rat.

Now Batou was alone. He had cleaned up his apartment after a long shower and he felt completely sore. He lay in his bed for the first time in 4 days and he stared up at the ceiling. Even though he had lived alone for the past few years, he felt lonely for the first time. He already missed Kusanagi and he felt that she would probably never come back to visit him here.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Darkness, numbness and silence; was she dead? She couldn't see, feel, or hear anything. She was in an eternal black void and streaming with consciousness. It was a terrifying experience. The death of a cyborg should be that of simply shutting down for years' time. This was all too lonely for her. She did not want to be alone in another world. Not again.

A thin horizon of light appeared out in the distance (if measurement was even possible in this world). It suddenly burst open and it was blinding to look at but it was better than the emptiness of space. She was in a large white room surrounded by walls of glass. Sound began to fill her ears and though no one was saying anything, she could hear the simplest of sounds like the friction between the folds of clothing and the small intakes of breath. Feeling returned to her and she clenched and unclenched her fists.

"Major?" A familiar male voice sounded towards the right of her.

Kusanagi turned her head, hoping it was him, but it was not.

Ishikawa had a weary smile on his face as he looked down at the woman. She was practically bolted down to a bed with titanium braces as if she were some cybernetic psychiatric patient. "What do you see?" He asked her a bit too gently.

"A very hairy man," She replied in the monotone voice she used towards the men she had to deal with.

Ishikawa chuckled at her response and scratched his cheek, "Your personality sure is back to normal."

"Where am I?" Her slightly infected eyes wandered.

"Your 'birthplace', I should say."

Kusanagi tried to process what the man was talking about and when she figured it out, her eyes opened up a bit more. "Megatech…" She answered to herself. She tried to sit up but her body was well held down by the metal.

"Whoa there! Easy now!" Ishikawa tried to calm her down, "You're safe here! Hypnos' signal or anyone else's can't reach you in this building!"

"Are you so sure about that?" She had a somewhat angered look on her face.

"Yes, I'm sure!" He kept nodding, "Your friend tested that out for us."

"'Friend'?" Kusanagi was able to turn her head. When she did, she could see Sayaka in her own little glass room and she was sitting up in her bed while speaking with the technicians. She had work done to her body, especially her ankles that Togusa had shot. Kusanagi uttered her name quietly, "Sayaka…"

"You two were having the most intense catfight I have ever seen…"

Kusanagi narrowed her eyes at him and he backed off immediately.

Ishikawa cleared his throat and informed, "So we have been able to subdue the virus and cut off Hypnos' signal, however, you are not cured just yet. Sayaka, on the other hand, almost is."

"How is that possible? How did she even get it in the first place?"

"Hypnos only downloaded half of her data so all he really did was using her as a hand puppet. She told us that she went to the same dream bar that you and Mika-"

"Mia." The Major corrected a bit defensively.

"Sorry…'she went to the dream bar you and' _Mia_ visited because Sayaka said she wanted to use your machine."

"Why would she do that?"

Ishikawa shrugged, "Maybe you should ask her."

"I could if you would allow me to move about the facility freely."

The man looked hesitant yet eventually gave in. He motioned for two technicians and they immediately came over to her, freeing her body from the bed limb by limb. She sat up and rolled her shoulders as well as her neck. She stood and was surprised that she could stand so easily. She was wearing a white hospital gown yet thankfully she still had a pair of panties to wear underneath of it. A technician opened the glass door for her to exit the room and Ishikawa followed close behind.

Though Kusanagi had only been to Megatech a few times, she could never recall being here. They most likely went through her cyber brain and wiped memories of what she saw in order to keep her from talking about what was inside the top secret facility. Usually in that process, she would forget things that have happened at Section 9 which was not so fun. For example, her men would share a good laugh about something humorous that took place during a mission yet she would have no recollection of that event. It certainly made her feel left out at times.

She made it to Sayaka's room and the girl immediately stood and hugged her girlfriend.

"I'm so sorry Kusa! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be here!" Sayaka cried.

Kusanagi hushed her and asked a bit seriously, "Why did you go to the Dream Bar by yourself after Mia and I went there?"

"Because I…was a little jealous…" Sayaka admitted, "Ever since she came into the picture…I felt a little behind in everything…I went to the Dream Bar in attempts to find you two but I guess you both left…so I used the machine you did."

"But why?" Kusanagi was still confused by the girl's train of thought.

"I wanted to see your dreams! Your memories! Just something!" Sayaka replied with a sort of desperation, "You never tell me anything about yourself besides what you do or how aroused you feel…"

"Oh…" Ishikawa couldn't help but react, he wasn't so sure if he should be hearing all of this.

"Shut it." Kusanagi glanced back at him.

"Kusa…I care about you…but sometimes I feel that you don't care about me…or anything really and it worries me!" Sayaka had a few tears rolling down her cheeks, "You barely have memories…you don't have dreams…not even aspirations! How do you live like that?"

"I wouldn't really call it living." Kusanagi's eyes looked down.

Sayaka wiped the tears from her eyes and she steadied her breath, "I think we need to split. I'm sorry. You're a strong and beautiful woman…but you need someone who is just as strong as you and I can't be that person…"

"I understand." Kusanagi replied with a sigh, "I just want you to know that I enjoyed all the times we spent together even if I did not seem to show it. I hope you find the right person for you." Kusanagi had no further questions or comments thus she exited the glass room.

Ishikawa was amazed and was confused as to what to even say. He gave Sayaka a light bow before catching up with the Major. "Did I just witness a breakup?" He asked, scratching his noggin.

"Obviously," She replied without looking at him, "It will be better this way. Just by having any sort of relations with me, she is in danger and I do not want to put her through any more of it." She looked around at other glass rooms in the area and seemed troubled, "Where's Batou?"

"He's probably at the apartment or maybe even at the hospital," Ishikawa rubbed his neck, "You did quite a number on him."

"What do you mean?" She almost frowned yet held the expression back.

"Wow, you really don't remember…I guess Batou tried to distract you from hurting other people that were around so he took all the blows for them. He looked pretty beat up before we left."

"He needs to be here…" She looked down, "I'm certain that…I infected him."

"Oh! So _that's_ what you two were up to at the apartment…"

"Ishikawa!" Major snapped at him, "Focus! Batou had placed a monitor device to my neck port and once the virus had gotten worse, Hypnos made me remove it and put it in Batou's. I am sure it had transmitted _something_ to him…"

"I think one of the technicians cleared him, saying that the results came out negative."

Kusanagi narrowed her eyes at him once again and she replied, "Bring him here, whether he is infected or not."

"But Aramaki…"

"Aramaki isn't here and I made an order that needs to be fulfilled." She spoke sternly.

"Yes, Ma'am," Ishikawa replied submissively. The Major gave a nod and left the man in his place. He sighed once she was out of view and he muttered to himself, "Geez, why is she so desperate to see him?" He shook his head and walked over to the head technician whom was adding upgrades and virus protection to a prosthetic body that looked identical to the Major.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Two days passed since Kusanagi had been sent away to Megatech Corporation. To Batou, they felt like the most long and miserable two days he ever had to endure. He worried for Kusanagi. Every negative possibility that could happen to her filled his mind. Usually, he would never be so optimistic about her yet after seeing how bad the virus was, he was pessimistic.

An incoming call appeared in his cybernetic vision and he answered it immediately. He was sitting on his couch in the living room while doing so. For once, he did not sit in his recliner. It was as if it no longer belonged to him but it belonged to the Major.

"Hey, Batou. It's Togusa." His mullet-haired friend greeted, "Ishikawa told me to tell you that the Major ordered him to have you come here to Megatech for inspection…she thinks that you may have the virus."

"I'll be over there right away." Batou replied without hesitation. Normally, he would complain about the technicians not believing that he had a virus in the first place yet he did not want to waste his breath; he just had to see Kusanagi again.

He practically darted out of the apartment complex and got inside his car. He buckled his seat belt and started the ignition. He adjusted the rear view mirror and through it, he saw an ominous looking figure of a man standing right behind his car. He twisted his upper body to look directly back at the man and tell him to move out of the way, yet he was no longer there. Batou sat in the car silently for a moment before shaking his head, dismissing it as simply his own mind creating small visions due to the lack of sleep.

Batou was back on the road in no time. He was sure to not get too excited and speed through traffic again. He did not want to wreck and get more damaged than he already was. Despite all his injuries, he was handling it pretty well. He did have a nurse come from Section 9 and take a look at him so he was somewhat patched up. The large facility soon came into view. It was not compromised of just one building for it had many clustered around it. Surrounding all the buildings was a large chain and surprisingly impenetrable fence. Adorning the top of it were many rows of electric barbed wire to keep both man and machine from climbing over it. If the words "MEGATECH CORPORATION" were not plastered on the front of the facility, it would have been unequivocally confused for a Supermax prison.

Guards in black utility uniforms and balaclavas guarded the gate entrance for cars. They stopped Batou and asked for his name and ID. He was able to get in without any trouble since the men were informed that he was summoned to be there. He slowly drove through and looked up at the three snipers' nests scattered about the lot. He was not too intimidated by them yet at the same time, he didn't like the way they stared at him.

Four guards with 9mm submachine guns and semi-automatic side arms led Batou in and through Megatech. They avoided going through any research rooms but occasionally they had to pass a few. It was not like Batou would try to use what he saw against the corporation but none of the workers at Megatech trusted any outside visitors. The room that creeped Batou out was the body factory. They walked across a steel suspended bridge to pass through it as the floor was covered with automated machines. Hanging from the ceiling were the hundreds of lifeless prosthetic body shells. They were identical in shape and design which somewhat disappointed Batou. There was a lack of individuality to them even though he knew that they would each be given various artificial skins, hair colors, and eyes, to differentiate themselves from one another for whoever wanted to purchase one. Their titanium husks aligned the ceiling in perfect formation however there was a space amongst them all, indicating that one was currently being used or was missing.

Eventually, they made it to the first area of the containment room. In this area, the subject would be stripped of their clothing and have a full, infrared scan of their body. Batou casually removed his clothing and stood inches away from a wall that was covered with large white tiles. The tiles began to emit a blue light as he stood in front of them and they blinked red after a few second of scanning. A technician in the room used his finger to gesture Batou to turn around and face the wall. The tall naked man did so and the tiles were blue again. After blinking red for one last time, the tiles returned to their original color. The results of his scan showed that he was clear to leave the containment area.

The guards walked him through a set of steel doors which led to the main room. This room was where all the repairs took place, mainly in regards of any sort of virus any entity may have. Kusanagi was in her glass room, speaking with Ishikawa. Batou was thankful to see that she looked to be in her right mind. She turned her head and looked at him. He was about to raise his hand in greeting yet he suddenly realized that he was still nude. He blushed and quickly looked for something he could cover himself with. A guard supplied him with a pair of long white pants and Batou turned around as he practically hopped into them.

When Batou turned back to look at Kusanagi, he saw that she was already halfway across the room, walking towards him with Ishikawa. The guards were dismissed by Major and she stood in front of the now shirtless cyborg.

"So I'm guessing that the real reason why you called me in here was just your excuse to see me naked, huh?" Batou said jokingly while he masked the slight embarrassment.

"You caught me." She lightly joked back.

"You should've bought me a drink first…"

"There would be plenty of time for that later." She almost grinned as she turned to lead the way.

Batou chuckled, always happy to have her joke around with him. He then became confused as to what she meant by her last statement. Was she referring to just a drink or…? Ishikawa was in the middle of their conversation and in his perspective; their jokes seemed more like flirtations.

"For the record Batou," Ishikawa began, feeling the need to add some of his own input, "I didn't see you naked. Even if I did, it wouldn't be the first time."

"I hope I never see _your_ naked ass." Batou replied with a scoff, not even wanting to imagine the hairy man bare.

The three of them entered through yet another set of steel doors. They entered a dark computer room and covering the walls were images of Hypnos' records being projected by multiple projectors from the ceiling. Batou's facial expression hardened at the sight; he was so tired of Hypnos and his damned virus.

"So I finally took the time and conducted my own research about the Dream Catcher," The Major began in a serious tone, "Looking at the mugshot of Hypnos, I can already tell that he is a full prosthetic cyborg. I proclaimed this idea because on his neck there is a small scar but the scar is actually a tear in his skin and if you zoom in and brighten the image, you can see the artificial muscle fibers. This observation does not make sense to me. He created a virus that does total physical and psychological damage to a cyborg of almost any degree yet wouldn't that be risking his own life and sanity? Would it not make better sense that he was just a tech-savvy human programmer with a control panel?"

"So are you saying that the guy in the picture _isn't_ Hypnos?" Batou seemed rather confused by the idea.

"Exactly." She replied, "I believe that the man in the picture is possibly another one of Hypnos' victims."

"That doesn't make any sense! The records say that Hypnos _is_ this man and Hypnos has been committing crimes like this since he was 15." Ishikawa thought what Major was saying was rather ridiculous.

"The records DO say that, but I believe that they are false." She crossed her arms, "The work of Hypnos has military written all over it. There is no way that some 15 year-old could have constructed a program similar to that being used by the army. This sort of technology has been around since the dawn of A.I. war machines."

"Okay, then why is the concept of a 15 year-old even brought up about his background?" Ishikawa continued to interrogate her.

"Hypnos fabricated it. He's a hacker after all so it is very possible that he changed the information. He does not want anyone knowing his true origins."

Ishikawa and Batou could not argue with the idea. Anything was plausible at this point but now it was a matter of catching this criminal.

"So how do you propose we do to catch him?" Batou asked.

"It depends. Are you indeed infected?" Kusanagi asked.

"I don't even know anymore…Hypnos told me himself I was but…nothing is showing up in the scanners."

"Either way, we'll use me to lure him." She concluded, "I heard that he is more interested in infected women than he is with men."

"Wait…you want to go back out into the world infected?" Batou now thought that the Major's logic was too extreme.

"Yes, but I will not be completely infected. I already planned out what to do with Ishikawa and the others. No need to worry."

"I think I have a right to know what the plan is a well."

"It's best if you don't know."

"What the hell, Major! Don't you want me involved in the mission?"

"Frankly, I don't." She replied stoically, "You're staying here where it is safe."

Batou was angered. He came all the way out to the facility to be with her, only to have her tell him that he would not be involved in a mission he was already very much involved in, "That's bullshit! You're not going back out there in your condition as I'm not staying in here for mine!"

"Batou…" She tried to reason with him, "I do not want you assisting me on this mission because I have already caused enough damage to you. You have helped me enough so allow me to return the favor whether you like it or not." She turned her back to him as she was making her way out of the computer room.

Batou followed her and responded with a more or less aggravated sigh, "Well you're crazy to think that I'll be cooped up in here the whole time…"

"It's the only way that I can ensure that you would not follow me…"

"I'm not going to-" He then stopped in his tracks and realized that he was following her right now. He looked down and took a deep breath, "Fair enough…"

Kusanagi looked back at him and noticed the look of dismay he had. The looked seemed to have bothered her and she felt a bit conflicted. She rubbed the side of her head and gave in, "If you can stay out of my way…you may leave the facility. If I am in desperate need of your assistance…I will contact you."

Batou looked up at her, surprised that she even considered giving him another chance.

She then threatened, "But if you DO get in my way, _I'll_ be the one kicking your ass. Not Hypnos."

Batou actually looked relieved despite the threat and replied, "That sounds fine to me…"

Ishikawa passed the two and had an exasperated look on his face after overhearing their usual bickering, "You guys stress me out just by listening to you two argue…Get a room or something next time."

"It would take more than a room to keep us quiet..." Batou chuckled.

Kusanagi's brows rose at the man's response, finding it somewhat suggestive. She slowly turned away from him, stating, "I'll see you around…"

"Wait…Major, I didn't mean it like that…!" He tried to correct himself but before he knew it, she was already way ahead of him. She caught up to Ishikawa and patted his shoulder to let him know that she needed him to ready the supplies they planned to take.

A female technician greeted Kusanagi and the two entered one of the glass rooms nearby where there sat a large machine used for cyber brains. Kusanagi lay beneath the machine and the technician was inputting commands into the computer. Two other technicians entered the room and they had carried in what looked like to be a stretcher with a large black sheet covering it. The glass room gradually began to look opaque with silver until everyone and everything inside was no longer seen.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was the next day at Megatech and Batou had rested peacefully. The presence of Kusanagi made him rest well; knowing that she was safe and well-supervised, though he had not seen her since their one-of-many spats yesterday. Batou was in his normal clothes and was currently tying his boots. He had slept in one of Megatech's many spare rooms which were located next to the quarantine center.

There was a knock at his steel door and he replied calmly yet audibly, "Come in."

Ishikawa opened the door and had a tired look on his face. He greeted him with a weary smile as he closed the door behind him.

"Everything okay?" Batou seemed to take notice of his friend's appearance.

"Yeah…more or less…" He shrugged and rubbed the back of his own neck.

"What do you mean?" Batou straightened up a bit.

"Major she…she's a little different but nothing to be alarmed about!" Ishikawa carefully chose his words.

"'Different'?" The look on the cyborg's face hardened.

"Just…try not to talk to her…the partial extraction of the virus didn't work so she's a bit…irritated and quiet…actually, she may not be so different after all…"

Batou was surprised by the news and he stood, "Where is she?"

"C'mon, I just told you that you shouldn't…" Next thing Ishikawa knew, the big man was heading out the door.

Batou passed by technicians and nurses until he finally used sound waves to detect where she was. Kusanagi was in the garage area and was loading up weapons with Borma and Saito. Her back was to the door and though she was wearing a full-covering combat uniform, it was easy to see that she still was very sick. She turned and looked back at Batou. The circuit board pattern had intricately covered the sides of her face. Her irises were a deeper green color and her skin was still pale. She turned back to what she was doing, not saying a word to Batou.

"Motoko…" He said quietly.

"That's 'Major' to you." She replied strictly without looking at him as she was adding a magazine to her Seburo C-26a.

He walked over to her and stood beside her. He looked down at the table in front of them, examining the weapons. He turned his head and looked at the side of her face. There was something definitely different about her (besides her appearance) and for some reason; it was hard for him to tell if she was even the same Major.

"What do you want?" She asked as she scooped up some ammunition. Her tone definitely seemed irritated.

"I wanted to see how you're doing."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"My body, my business," Kusanagi grabbed a pistol and aimed straight ahead, testing her field of vision with it.

Batou huffed and felt like he was being ignored despite receiving responses from her. He then decided to try something so he asked with a raised brow, "The other day, I had made us some soup...but I can't seem to remember what kind it was…"

"Since when did you start cooking for me?" She asked and had a somewhat confused look on her face. She picked up a bag of weapons and loaded it into what looked to be one of Megatech's delivery trucks.

Batou couldn't believe it, "It was Udon…" He muttered to himself. He turned and looked back at the door where he entered and there stood a shrugging Ishikawa. He trudged over to the man and asked with almost a growl, "They wiped her memory?"

"Only some of it!" Ishikawa backed up, waving both hands in front of him.

"What do you mean by 'some'?"

"Some as in the past few days…since she was hit by the truck…however, she knows that she is infected and is going to take down Hypnos," Ishikawa replied and tried to reassure, "But it's all good! Once he's gone, we can safely transfer her-…"

Batou did not want to hear anymore. He knew they were going to wipe her memory and he was pissed off that they did. She does not remember being in his apartment, eating his food, or even sharing their conversations. Usually memory wipes did not bother him too much but this time it hit him hard because of how personal it felt.

"Alright men, listen up." Kusanagi announced. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. "Ishikawa and I will be at the mission location. Borma and Saito, you will be on standby. Togusa you work with Pazu to bring in any recent victims of the virus. Batou, you are to stay put at Section 9 and whatever you do, do NOT answer any calls regarding this mission. If I ever were to cry for help, ignore it. If you hear a report of a tragic accident that happens at the location, ignore it. If the boys are crying over my lifeless body, ignore it. This is all for your own safety…any questions?"

The men shook their heads yet Batou gave no reaction. Her words were cold as ice and obviously he could not accept them. No matter how much she may try and push him away, he would always run to her aid; No matter what.

The Major turned and hopped into the delivery truck. The stretcher with the black sheet from yesterday appeared again, being carried by the same technicians. Batou still had no idea who or what was under the sheet but it was too late to ask questions. The back doors closed and Ishikawa opened the driver's side of the truck before entering. All Batou could do was stand and watch the car drive away as the garage door slowly closed. He didn't want to wait around at Section 9 but he had no other choice.

Batou returned to headquarters and sat on the large blue couch in the lounge area. None of the guys were around of course so it was simply him and a few operators occasionally walking in and out of the room. Aramaki was in the middle of a meeting so Batou was rather bored. He was on the brink of putting himself into sleep mode until he received an email on his phone. He assumed that it was just going to be some random advertisement yet when he opened it up; the first sentence he read was " _It's me, Mia"._

He sat up and continued to read the message.

 _I have been meaning to tell you this sooner…but I was afraid…the guilt has been building up so much inside that I could not take it anymore…I am absolutely certain that it is my fault that Motoko is sick. I remember the day that she had come by to see me. She brought me flowers and a box of Chinese tea after one of my shows. She could not stay due to work but her gesture made me very happy. After she left, I danced one more show before heading back to the dressing room. There I met a mysterious man in a black hood. His eyes were covered so I could only see his nose and mouth. He must have overheard me asking my friends about where Motoko and I should go for our next date because he told me, "You should visit the Dream Bar". He explained to me what it was and suggested what machine for cyborgs to use there for "the best quality dreams and memories". He never told me his name but I thanked him for the suggestion (and of course, that is where this virus- mess happened). The last thing I remember him telling me was "She has a very beautiful body" before disappearing through the crowd of girls. It's funny to look back and imagine how jealous I was that he didn't compliment MY body since I was the one dancing…but now I realize that he was probably there the whole time, watching HER and waiting until she left to speak to me. I should have told you all of this much sooner. I am sorry. She doesn't deserve any of this and I am truly sorry for dragging you down as well. This is perhaps the last time either of you will be hearing from me._

 _-Farewell_

Utter guilt was laced in the email. Batou felt sorry for the girl since all she wanted to do was have a fun date with Kusanagi. He lingered on sympathy for a moment before realizing that her message contained some new information. The "mysterious man" Mia described was certainly Hypnos. He told her where to go and exactly what machines to use. He must have already implemented the virus into the machine so the first victim who used it was simply the "test subject". Hypnos _wanted_ Kusanagi to get infected; she was not some random victim or a lucky toss of a coin. He had probably been stalking her for a while before finally taking action. This angered Batou.

He took a moment to relax and when he finally did, he replied to her email.

 _Thank you for telling me what you know. I have some new information to work off of so the only person you need to blame is that man, not yourself. I am going to make things right. I promise._

 _-Batou_

After sending the message, Batou was curious of how she was able to get his email but then remembered that he was perhaps another emergency contact for the Major's girlfriends. This realization gave him the idea to begin researching Motoko's boyfriends who were in their criminal database. She always had a thing for finding the wrong guys to date so that would be a good place to start in finding the identity of Hypnos. He could probably be a jealous ex of hers because he would describe her body as "beautiful". Obviously, Batou agreed with the statement 100% yet he did not like to hear it from any man except himself (at least, if he were to say it aloud).


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The sky was dark with a mix of nimbostratus clouds and pollution. The day was full of eerie atmosphere and it felt foreboding. This did not faze the Major. She was sitting in the delivery truck next to the black covered stretcher. Her infected eyes gazed down at the blanket as she was lost in thought. They were heading to one of Hypnos' hideouts and it was located near the coast of the city Hachinohe.

Ishikawa was driving the truck yet he glanced back at the Major through a small window that allowed him to see into the storage portion of the vehicle, "Feeling okay back there?"

"I'm fine." Major answered.

"Good, because we're almost there," He announced, "Hypnos won't even see us coming since Megatech's trucks are comprised of the same materials as the facility; he can't track your signal in here."

"He still has his eyes on Batou though…" She commented quietly.

"You heard the technicians, he isn't infected…why do you still think he is?"

"I can feel it in my ghost…"

"That's a little creepy…" Ishikawa muttered quietly.

The two have been driving for almost an hour until they finally reached an abandoned fishing port. Hachinohe had been a major fishing port since the 1920s yet due to countless tsunami's and oil spills it endured, it was abandoned. It was too costly to reconstruct or refurbish it in any way thus it lay out of sight and out of mind from the people. As they drove closer, a large warehouse was visible. This use to be the place where fish were imported and exported and the stench made that very apparent.

"If Saito was correct…Hypnos should be here." Ishikawa informed, "We don't know what all he has up his sleeve but the new monitor in your port should protect you from him being able to take control of you _however,_ it will not be able to stop any hallucinations due to the cyber brain waves constantly maneuvering the airspace. If you take any heavy damage, I won't be able to go in and get you so try your best not to get hurt. _You_ are your own last resort."

Kusanagi listened and nodded, "Affirmative." She stood and Ishikawa pressed a button on the dashboard that caused the back doors to open.

"Good luck, Major."

She gave him a gloved thumb up in response before stepping out of the vehicle. The doors closed behind her and at the moment they did so, the car drove away to a safer location.

Kusanagi walked up to the damaged warehouse doors and slid through an opening. She had a sidearm in its holster as she did not want to carry any big guns for the confrontation. The room was almost pitched black yet her echoed footsteps indicated that it was very large.

"Dearest Major Kusanagi…I did not even see you coming!" Hypnos' voice resonated about the room yet he was not seen.

"Well I came to see you." She responded calmly, her green eyes were faintly glowing in the darkness.

"I see that Megatech was unable to fix you…What a shame…" He falsely pouted, "But then again…they can never seem to fix any damn thing that's broken…"

"You must have some beef with the corporation."

"Doesn't everyone?" He scoffed and the sound of a switch being moved was heard. Large bright lights beamed down from the ceiling and onto the floor. It revealed the area and to Kusanagi's surprise, she saw what looked to be a military training ground. There were wooden obstacles, shooting targets, and other training equipment (which were mainly used by young recruits). Interwoven with everything were titanium prosthetic bodies. They all seemed to be female and were in misshapen conditions. Some were missing limbs as others were practically mutilated beyond recognition.

"How did you obtain all of these bodies?" She was overwhelmed by all the human shaped shells.

"I bought some…and I also 'found' some…"

"Did you infect me to have my body?" She asked as she looked around the room.

"Yes…but before I can have you, I want to see if you are strong enough to survive…" Another switched sounded and all the prosthetic bodies in the room began to spasm and seize. Kusanagi whipped her gun out and aimed in preparation for any attack. All the heads of the bodies turned and looked directly at her with their skull-like faces.

Kusanagi received a message in her visual field that alerted her whenever someone was trying to take control of her so she called out, "Nice try, Hypnos."

"Clever girl…" He almost hissed and then asked, "But will you be able to handle this?"

All of the prosthetic bodies seemed to begin morphing in front of Kusanagi. They took on the shapes of most everyone from Section 9. Whatever ailments the prosthetic bodies had, the team had as well. Togusa was missing an arm, Saito's other eye was gouged out along with his stomach, Ishikawa was missing a leg and some fingers, Borma was simply missing chunks of his body, Pazu looked practically mangled, and Batou's chest was blown out. It was an absolutely gory sight and it was a sight she had seen in a brief vision that Hypnos caused her to have just days ago.

Within seconds, everyone began to attack. Kusanagi reassured herself that this was only a hallucination so she did not hold back with her attacks. She mixed the use of her martial art skills with her quick shooting tactics, causing her to deal extra damage. Whenever she defeated one, it would return to its original form so she took them out one by one without hesitation. The only thing that threw her off a bit was the sound of their voices calling out to her in an almost ghostly fashion even after being defeated. Ignoring the seemingly paranormal elements, it only took her less than 5 minutes to take them all out due to her excellent fighting dexterity.

"Splendid." Hypnos slowly clapped, "It looks like you are indeed worthy of being mine…"

She ignored the comment and stated sternly, "Quit hiding in the shadows and show yourself."

"Who says I'm hiding?" Hypnos replied as he stepped into the light from the back of the room. He was not detected by her since he only appeared to be a part of the wall until finally coming forward. He was about 173 cm tall (5' 8") and had dull brown hair that was pulled back into a bun. He looked to be around his mid-40s yet his grey eyes and weary expression made him look significantly older. They stood 60 yards apart from each other and practically stared each other down.

"So this is the face of the Dream Catcher." She looked unimpressed.

"Not impressed? I'm sure Batou would think otherwise once he gets here…" He smirked.

Kusanagi furrowed her brows, "What?"

"I asked him to join us…using your vocal pattern." He almost snickered.

 _[Is everything okay in there?]_ Ishikawa abruptly contacted the Major in a private server so Hypnos could not detect him, _[Batou said you were in danger and is heading over here.]_

 _[I'm completely fine!]_ She almost yelled through communications, _[Hypnos tricked him. Tell him to fall back!]_

 _[I tried, I tried!]_ Ishikawa replied a bit frantically, _[But I guess he cut communications because I couldn't contact him afterwards!]_

"Dammit…" Kusanagi cursed.

"He should be here any minute now…He drives pretty fast when he knows you're in trouble…charming, isn't it?" Hypnos smiled but now looked frozen. Before she could even react, she was grabbed from behind and her monitor was torn out. The Hypnos she was looking at was yet another hallucination as the real Hypnos was behind her the whole time. She was just about to punch him until he stopped her movements with what looked like a keyboard-like device attached to his left arm. He finally had control of her and he commanded her to walk ahead. Hypnos circled the room and was in the shadows once more.

Promptly, everything fell silent. All that was heard was the wind blowing along the flimsy wooden boards of the warehouse roof and the crashing waves from the ocean. The sound of a car pulled up just outside the front doors and the Major knew exactly whose car it was. She could not move or yell so all she could do was helplessly stand like a statue in the center of the room, facing the doors. Ishikawa wanted to exit the delivery truck to stop his friend from entering the building, but he could not give away his own position or the truck's.

One of the doors slowly moved open, allowing Batou to enter.

"Major!" He called out to her and was surprised to see that she looked completely intact. The distress call that he received from "her" made him think that she was being tortured and it honestly frightened him.

"Ah! You finally made it! Bienvenue!" Hypnos welcomed the cyborg in a jolly fashion, "It's been so long since we've last seen each other face to face…"

"I don't recall ever meeting one of the Major's exes!" Batou almost barked, "Show yourself!"

"Such a fool…" Hypnos sighed and left the darkness once again yet this time he walked to Kusanagi's side, placing his hand against her hip.

Batou growled at the gesture as he didn't want some creep's paws (or any other man's paws) to even lay a finger against her. He studied the man and struggled to fit any name to his face. He did not like look any of the men he saw in Section 9's database whom had any personal relations with the Major. He suddenly recalled the memories he experienced from the dream machine that he used at the Dream Bar days ago.

He looked almost horrified by the revelation as he said, "My god…you're Cadet Sanders..."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Why are you doing all of this?!" Batou shouted. He felt confused, angry, and even a bit hurt that the man he once looked up to turned out to be a criminal.

Sanders paused in thought. He looked at Major yet she was looking straight ahead with her placid gaze. He gently pulled back some of her hair and rolled it behind her ear.

"I want to bring back Yamato." Sanders finally responded without looking at Batou, "I originally created Sleep Consciousness to use on myself. I wanted to see her and interact with her yet of course, there were two flaws. One, I do not have any cybernetic enhancements in my brain for it to work. And two, Sleep Consciousness would allow me to see her but not to _feel_ her…I soon began to realize that I could use my program to infect others so in the beginning, I simply uploaded a small amount of the data into a person and made them bring me money, no harm done. I wanted to earn enough money for a cyber-brain operation but naturally, it's so damn expensive it would take YEARS for me to afford it. The more I infected people, the more the program began to alter and evolve. Rather than taking partial control of cyborgs, it began to take full control of them. I was horrified at first and wanted to stop…but another idea came to mind; why not use this power to program and create a new Yamato? I could input her personality data into a woman and modify their appearance to look like her! And after years of collecting, buying, and scavenging bodies…I finally found the perfect model."

"You're out of your damn mind…" Batou shook his head in utter disbelief.

"I may be…but I no longer have to commit these so-called 'crimes'." Sanders grinned, "Motoko's body is just a newer version of Yamato's…Motoko is an excellent fighter and has a stubborn personality. I do not need to modify her as much as I originally thought. She is almost perfect. I simply need to change her hair color, eye color, and darken her skin a tint. The virus will eventually cause her to think that I am the only man in the world for her. She will trust me. She will love me…" His lips brushed against the Major's cheek.

Batou swiftly raised his gun and aimed it directly at Sanders' head. He was now 100% certain to take this lunatic out but of course, since Kusanagi was right next to the man, he could not afford to be so risky with the shot.

"It seems like this will be a competition to see who can have her…" Sanders smirked as he stepped away from the woman. He pressed a few buttons on his keyboard which caused Kusanagi's arm to lift. She was now aiming her gun at Batou.

Normally, Batou would be unnerved by this stance since aiming their guns at each other during a mission was practically common practice for whatever reason. This time, however, was different as Sanders probably had the intent to kill Batou at any moment and Kusanagi would have no way of stopping it. Sanders watched the two silently but as he studied Kusanagi a bit more, he began to laugh.

"I see now…I've been made a fool." He calmed himself and made Kusanagi's arm lower. Batou lowered his arm shortly afterwards. "Oh no, no, Batou, keep aiming your gun!" Batou's prosthetic arm suddenly jerked back up. This was the moment that Batou now realized that he truly had been infected this whole time. His arm was rigid and stiff, he was unable to move it even when attempting to use his other arm to push it down. He bared his teeth as he was desperate to keep the gun from shooting the Major.

"You want her dead now?!" Batou barked at Sanders in rage, "I don't understand!"

"I see something in her that I could never change…so if I cannot have her, Batou…then no one can and then we'll be even."

"You're insane Sanders! This isn't going to solve anything!"

Batou felt his finger put pressure against the trigger. He began to yell for Sanders to stop but his pleas were useless. Kusanagi stared at Batou and looked unafraid. Strangely, she looked determined and when her eyes met with Batou's, she gave a very slow and faint nod. Batou shook his head and right as he opened his mouth to speak, the gun fired.

The bullet hit Kusanagi directly in the forehead. Her head first whipped back at the impact as casing particles and brain matter flew from her cranium. The gunshot caused the motors in her head to explode and her body fell heavily to the floor like a titanium ragdoll, leaving her motionless. She now appeared to be no different than the other broken prosthetic bodies in the room; she was disfigured and innocent just like them.

Batou dropped his gun. He had complete mobility now yet he was too shocked to move. He finally rushed over to her after a couple of moments and he fell to his knees once he was at her side. "Motoko, I…" He struggled to think and speak. His hands hovered over her yet they were trembling so much that he could not bring himself to hold her.

Sanders picked up Batou's gun and checked to see if there was another bullet in the chamber; there was. He slowly walked to the kneeling Batou and now had the gun aimed at the back of the man's head.

"Remember when I told you 'if you care for someone; let them know'?" Sanders asked in a more solemn tone, "Well…I see you never took my advice."

Batou did not turn his head. He did not retaliate and he did not bother to even try. His chest felt heavy and his mind and body was infiltrated with guilt. She was gone. There was no way of undoing this. He would never be able to see her face again, to hear her voice, to gently rest his arm against her back when they walked, to spend time with her on the boat or watch her dive into the sea. The thoughts of continuing on with life after this seemed like some twisted fantasy.

"You are suffering already…it reminds me too much of myself…" He cocked the pistol, "I am feeling rather merciful so allow me to give you _un coup de grâce_ …"

"In your dreams, Hypnos..." A steely female voice sounded from behind the criminal.

Sanders whipped his head around at the sound of the mysterious voice but when he looked behind himself, he saw no one. He felt a strong presence standing right in front of him but before having any time to react, he felt a metallic foot kick him harshly aside. His body flew and slid against the stone floor. He landed on his keyboard and as he got up, he saw the damage it took. He realized that he had dropped the gun so he tried to crawl quickly toward it. The gun seemed to be moving away from him on its own and eventually it sped off into the shadows. His body was lifted by the collar of his shirt and he was punched multiple times in the face. Batou was astonished by the sight and was even more so when he switched his optic vision to the thermal sensors.

By the end of the beat down, Sanders ended up with a broken leg, a few broken ribs, and an out of socket arm. He was knelt on his good knee and when he looked up, she began to appear before him. The Major lifted her visor and looked down at the man with her stunning sky blue eyes. She looked like an angel in her nude-colored, skin-tight thermal optic camouflage suit with the ceiling lights beaming down against her back. She did not look infected and in fact, she looked better than ever.

"Motoko…" Batou sighed and actually felt warmth grow in his chest.

"It's over Sanders." Major spoke in an assertive tone.

"B-But…how?" Sanders coughed, he was barely breathing from having the wind knocked out of him.

"Your years of depression and selfishness had led you to crime and if you come across me, you are guaranteed to pay for it." She then confessed, "I knew Major Yamato. She was one of my early combat trainers at one of the high schools I attended. I had never met you before but I do recall that she spoke often and fondly of you. She definitely had feelings for you."

Sanders gave a weakened smile, his left eye now showing signs of swollenness, "She did?"

"Yes, but if she were here right now (if her consciousness had miraculously resurfaced in some form) I can guarantee that she is utterly disappointed in you. Instead of moving on from her death, you had resorted to ruining other people's lives for your own pleasure. You cannot justify ANY of your actions and thus I have no sympathy. Yamato would have wanted you to continue her legacy. You were her right hand man. If I were to ever disappear off the face of the earth, I would want those closest to me to continue their work, not idle in my absence."

The sound of a helicopter flying toward the warehouse could be heard yet Major did not break her line of sight.

"You will be handed over to the military. They will decide on your punishment since you are still technically their property. You confessed to going AWOL after all."

Batou finally brought himself to a stand since he heard the helicopter landing. He removed his coat and began walking over to Kusanagi. He gently placed his coat over her shoulders and it was large enough to cover her torso and all the way down to her bum. The soldiers kicked open the front doors and apprehended the former Cadet. The Major gave the men recordings of the confrontation from her memory bank for them to use against Sanders in trail. They dragged the man outside and Major and Batou trailed behind them.

The pair stood outside the doors of the warehouse and watched as the helicopter blades spun in rapid succession. Their hair tossed about from the fast winds but eventually everything slowed down as the flying machine left the area.

"You have _so_ much explaining to do…" Batou sighed in stressed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I think you do as well." Her eyes glanced up at him.

At first, Batou did not understand what she meant and he looked at her oddly. She obviously knew all that had gone on with him until he recalled the "advice" that Sanders gave him. He scratched the back of his head and began, "Well, uh…"

"Man! That was one hell of a ride!" Ishikawa interrupted with a laugh as he walked towards the two, "Gee, I'm glad I'm not on the front lines. I'm happy with sticking to my computers."

"Don't give her any ideas…" Batou warned with a light chuckle.

"Let's get back to headquarters; we'll explain everything along the way." Major concluded while ambling toward the delivery truck with the big beige coat wrapped snug against her. Batou was just happy that she was alive. An explanation on how she was able to pull all of this off without his knowledge would be nice yet ultimately, he was simply glad that she was back. He and Ishikawa followed their superior to the truck so they could get back to HQ and wrap up all the information for Chief Aramaki.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The ride back to Section 9 was a most informative one for Batou. He sat in the back of the delivery truck with Kusanagi as Ishikawa was driving them to their destination.

Kusanagi explained that during her visit at Megatech, the technicians told her that there was no way to get rid of the virus since Sanders had such a tight grasp on her. They suggested that she change into a new, updated body that would prevent any outside programs from infecting her. She accepted and had her cyber brain removed but before having it transferred into the new body, she input a small amount of her data into a false cyber brain. This cyber brain allowed her to control her infected shell to use for the mission, explaining why she was missing some memories when Batou tried to interact with her in the garage area.

"The body I'm in now was resting beneath this black blanket the whole time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike." Kusanagi spoke coolly while removing the blanket to reveal the stretcher beneath it, "This is also why Ishikawa was sitting outside in here."

"That explains so much." Batou looked at the stretcher. There were so many clues he noticed that now made him feel rather shortsighted for not making any connections with them. He then asked, "Why didn't you tell me all of this beforehand?"

"Since when have I told you anything?" She lightly chuckled and Batou chortled as he did not argue with the statement.

Batou then looked down and apologized, "I'm sorry for going against your orders...I'm sure things would have gone on much more smoothly if I hadn't arrived at the warehouse. You seemed to have everything under control…"

"Why apologize? Can't you see that we made it? If anything, you helped get rid of that horrendously infected shell of mine."

"It was traumatizing as hell…" He almost shuddered at the recent memory of "killing" Motoko.

"Well at least you get bragging rights for shooting the Major in the face." Ishikawa unhelpfully intervened in their conversation as usual.

"Oh shut up, you…" Batou waved him off.

As they finally returned to headquarters, the Major was welcomed throughout the halls by their fellow (but not very familiar) Sections 9 members including the skirted operators. People would stop left and right to bow to her, almost as if she were some sort of empress. She appreciated their hospitality but at the same time it made her feel suffocated. Batou was walking closely behind and he sensed the discomfort in her.

"Follow me." He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

Kusanagi paused and looked up at him briefly. She nodded and followed him through what seemed to be a shortcut. It led them to the men's locker rooms in which Kusanagi asked, "Why did you bring me in here?"

Batou pressed a few buttons on one of the lockers' keypads while answering, "To get you out of the crowd and to give you this." He pulled out the outfit that he had sent to the laundromat the day of her accident. It consisted of her favorite black top and pants as well as her yellow coat. He handed the clothing to her and she looked very appreciative. "When you told me to come here for the mission, I decided to drop by and pick it up from the cleaners."

Kusanagi removed the coat that she was currently wearing and handed it back to Batou. She took her clothing and laid it on a nearby bench before turning her back to her partner asking, "Mind unzipping me?"

Batou gave a nod and took the zipper of her suit and slowly moved it down her back, revealing her smooth pale skin.

He stepped back and faced the locker to lock it back up while suggesting, "If you want to go into the women's locker room to change you can…"

But it was too late. He glanced and saw that she had already removed her suit as she was standing with her bare backside to him. He quickly turned away and could feel a blush spread across his face.

"What's wrong with a woman changing in a man's locker room?" She asked with a possible tease.

"You're certainly unlike any other woman I know." He crossed his arms, still facing away from her, "Speaking of which, have you been able to contact Mia?"

"No, but I saw the email she sent you. Pretty sure I got dumped again."

"'Again'?"

"Sayaka and I broke up as well."

"Why'd they do that?"

"I'm too much of a burden." She shrugged.

"Now wait just a damn minute, you're not a…" He turned to rebuke her statement but saw that she only had her pants on. He turned again in frustration for multiple reasons but continued while looking aside, "You're not a burden…don't ever think that. If anyone ever says that you're one, then they don't deserve to be a part of your life…"

Kusanagi paused and looked back at him silently. She slipped her top on before completing her look with her coat saying, "I'm ready to see Aramaki now…"

Batou sighed, hoping he got some message across to her. They left the locker room together and made their way to the stairwell to further avoid any more groups of people. They came across their more familiar circle of employees after exiting the stairwell. Saito, Borma, and everyone else were standing around as they had waited for the two to arrive. Ishikawa had gotten there before Batou and Major since he did not take the shortcut with them.

"Nice to see that you're back to normal," Togusa greeted Major.

"That's good for you but _I_ personally thought the green eyes suited me," She responded sarcastically.

"Yeah that's definitely her…"

"So you really _did_ turn out to be infected, huh?" Pazu commented to Batou.

"Did news of that already spread?" Batou looked a little concerned.

"You have Ishikawa to thank." Saito motioned over at their geeky friend.

Batou glared at the bearded man and Ishikawa defended himself, "Hey, they were curious about all that went down…you should probably tell them what your infected-self did to the Major."

"What'd you do?" Borma asked in interest, it was rare to get him interested in anything since he was always so quiet.

"I'd rather not…" Batou began before being interrupted by Ishikawa.

"He shot her directly in the head."

"You bastard…" Borma looked at Batou.

"I was being controlled! Do you think I would ever do that to her? It sure as hell isn't something for me to brag about…I mean, what if Togusa got brainwashed somehow and tried to kill his wife?"

"Whoa whoa, we are not bringing my family into this," Togusa stepped up, "Besides, it sounds to me that you're comparing the Major to my wife…"

The sound of Aramaki's office door could be heard shutting, causing the men to stop their blather and look over at it. Batou crinkled his brow at the men, mentally blaming them for possibly offending Kusanagi.

Aramaki was looking out the window as usual before greeting the Major. He offered her to sit yet she declined the offer. He pulled up a few files from his computer and transferred them to the holographic projectors embedded in his office table.

"The mission was a success," He began, "The Dream Catcher/Hypnos, AKA ex-Cadet Michael Sanders, was taken down by you and apprehended by the U.S. military. His trial will begin sometime soon so I'll alert you once I get the date. Saito had located over a dozen locations in which Sanders had resided in and Togusa and Pazu had communicated with most of his recent victims. Borma visited the homes of said victims and installed the new software to keep Sleep Consciousness away from their families. Also, I sent a forensic team earlier to analyze the warehouse grounds and retrieved any property left by Section 9. How was Ishikawa's performance?"

"Excellent." She replied without hesitation, "He helped with my new prosthetic body's maintenance and modifications as well as keep it in his care until I ultimately used for the mission."

"And Batou's performance?"

Kusanagi did not answer so quickly yet eventually stated, "Without him…who knows what condition I would be in right now; what condition _all_ of Section 9's members would be in. If he was not there to help me from that semi-truck, he would not have discovered my virus, interrogate different people and visit the locations I had visited, done practically everything to get us to this very moment in time. Yes, he went against your orders and mine a few times but it all worked out. I'm sure that if it was not for him, Kusanagi Motoko would have been a false Yamato Shiori."

"I see…" Aramaki gave a nod, "I should probably apologize to him…I said some things a few days ago that I should not have said…I doubted his position in all of this at the time and I see now that I was wrong." He stood and concluded, "I will speak to him tomorrow. For now, you all deserve to go home early tonight. Any questions?"

Kusanagi was about to shake her head until she remembered, "The last time we were in this office…you told me to not let 'it' get to my head. What were you referring to?"

"Hm? I don't recall saying anything like that…" He looked rather confused yet joked, "It was probably just a hallucination of yours."

"Too soon, Chief," She chuckled though as she thought about it a little more, he may have been right.

"You're dismissed. Same goes to the others."

"See you tomorrow." She turned and left the room. The men were still bickering outside the room but when her presence was made known, they stopped the chatter. She walked past all of them while saying, "Time to head home early, boys."

"We were actually going to offer you to come with us to the bar to celebrate our successful mission." Ishikawa informed.

"I'm going to have to pass on that offer," Kusanagi replied, making her way to the elevators, "I'm rather tired and I haven't been home in almost a week. But go ahead and enjoy yourselves."

"Whatever you say, Boss," He replied empathetically, "Whoever wants to go, follow me." Saito, Borma, Pazu, and even Togusa followed Ishikawa to another set of elevators.

As they were entering, Saito noticed that Batou was left behind and he called to him, "You coming too?"

"Nah, I think I'll head on home as well." Batou responded. The elevator doors closed and he looked over at Kusanagi. She had just called her own elevator and was waiting patiently at the steel doors. He joined her and stood quietly next to her. He let her go in first once the doors opened and they stood in their naturally designated spots. It almost seemed like the virus had never happened; that time somehow went backwards and repeated the moments leading up to the accident. It felt like déjà vu.

"Batou," She finally uttered, "May you drive me home? I'm not planning on crossing the street anytime soon."

Batou lightly grinned and nodded, "Sure. My car is in the parking deck this time. The forensic team brought it back from the warehouse." He pressed the P5 button on the elevator's control panel. He leaned back against the wall and looked ahead. He suddenly asked, "This may be a bit late for me to ask…but did Megatech wipe any of your memories even after you switched bodies? I mean…do you remember everything now?"

"'Everything'?" She repeated curiously. She did not answer him immediately and actually waited until they made it to the parking deck level. She walked out first and he followed. They were now in a large dark enclosed lot with very few cars parked here and there. She turned to look back at him saying with a light smile, "You made me Udon noodles…they were pretty good."

Batou stopped in place and simply stared at her as she continued to walk ahead. She noticed the lack of the sounds of footsteps behind her so she turned around again to see what was wrong.

Kusanagi _did_ remember everything that took place meaning that she remembered spending time with him at the apartment, eating his food, sleeping in his bed, and so on. He was worried that this whole time that she had no recollection of such events since they meant so much to him. She was the only person to have stayed, never the less, visit his apartment and he didn't care if she was the only visitor he would ever get. He just wanted her to remember the experience there with him because he cares for her deeply.

He walked towards her and gently cupped her face with his large warm hands. He was so engulfed with emotion that he could no longer hold himself back. She looked up at him composedly with her own hands against his chest and she did not make any attempts to separate from him. He leaned down and planted a loving kiss against her lips. Of course, Kusanagi was bewildered by the gesture but found it to feel rather comforting; even to the point that she closed her eyes.

After a long lasting minute, Batou pulled away and walked straight past her. She was left standing dazed and feverish. Her fingers gently rested against her lower lip, savoring the feeling that was placed there, and if she could blush, she certainly would have. She heard his car start up from behind her and Batou called, "Are you going to get in?"

"Yeah." She smiled.

"Wise men have interpreted dreams, and the gods laughed."

-H.P. Lovecraft, _Hypnos_

 _~~Thank you all for reading!~~_


End file.
